Association for Behavior Analysis International

The 2015 Guidelines for the Accreditation of Graduate Programs in Behavior Analysis put forth by the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) includes the addition of coursework in the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (EAB). These new additions (one EAB course for master's programs;two EAB courses for coctoral programs) constitute a substantial push to increase the relevance and rigor of training in basic behavior analysis in ABAI-accredited programs. However, the addition of EAB courses may prove difficult for applied training programs that must already maintain approved course sequences through the Behavior Analysis Certification Board, or accreditation from other organizations (e.g., American Psychological Association, National Association of School Psychologists). The 2015 ABAI accreditation guidelines may thereby put graduate training directors in a difficult position to choose whether ABAI accreditation is worth curricular changes or additional hiring of EAB faculty. This panel discussion will begin with brief comments from experts in the field who have a vested interest in integrating basic behavior analysis into applied training programs. Discussants will describe the importance of EAB in applied training programs, in addition to providing tips and strategies for meeting ABAI's accreditation guidelines. The floor will then be opened to discussion from attendees.

For more than a decade, the BACB has operated an Approved Course Sequence system through which a university's defined behavior-analytic coursework can be formally identified as meeting course-content requirements for BACB certification. There are currently more than 500 Approved Course Sequences (ACSs) at over 500 institutions around the world. Dr. James E. Carr will present data on the growth of ACSs over time, as well as the core coursework and instructor requirements to become an ACS. Chief among these requirements is course content (currently 45 hours) in basic behavior-analytic concepts and principles, which all applicants for BACB certification must successfully complete. Questions on BACB certification examinations are all based on the BACB Fourth Edition Task List, which is a content validated list of job competencies of behavior-analytic practitioners. A portion of the task list document (Foundational Knowledge) is devoted to basic concepts and principles. Dr. Carr will describe the roles these basic underpinnings play in BACB coursework requirements and examinations and how they might be expanded or further highlighted in the BACB Fifth Edition Task List.

Dr. Christopher A. Podlesnik is a basic researcher with interests in understanding how fundamental learning and behavioral processes influence the effectiveness of behavioral treatments. Although interested in translational research for some time, he is currently receiving his first real clinical training in Applied Behavior Analysis in severe-behavior and early-intervention clinics. This experience taught him the value of understanding fundamental learning and behavioral processes, theoretical frameworks, and conceptual systems of behavior for guiding treatment decisions. Assessments, analyses, and treatments in Applied Behavior Analysis are powerful tools for addressing behavioral deficits and excesses. However, these methods are applied in so many different circumstances, the particulars of these methods must always change. Understanding fundamental processes provides behavioral clinicians with yet another, more general, tool for better aligning features of clinical tools with a given case and to anticipate avenues to exploit for improving those tools. His ongoing struggle is with how to convey the importance and usefulness of investing the extensive time it takes to understand complex literatures and theoretical frameworks to the point it can be applied by busy students primarily interested in practical issues of behavior change.

University of Houston-Clear Lake's current master's program in behavior analysis is the result of evolving changes and improvements to the curriculum since 2004. Many of these improvements were possible because of changes in the requirements for accreditation and certification. In this presentation, Dr. Dorothea C. Lerman will describe strategies used to meet changes in these requirements and to integrate more basic behavior analysis into the UH-CL curriculum. Suggestions will be given for faculty and program directors who are training practitioners and have a limited number of faculty lines.

Is there a home for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (EAB) in applied-training programs? There has to be because EAB is the foundation of the behavior-analytic home. What has made behavior analysis such a strong discipline is that our practice is never really separated from our science and philosophy. Without training in and knowledge of the basic principles of behavior, an applied behavior analyst is at a severe disadvantage as a practitioner. Dr. Christine E. Hughes will discuss the program at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington as an example of a successful and strong program in both basic and applied behavior analysis, while having to meet separate state requirements for practicing psychology.