Association for Behavior Analysis International

The Association for Behavior Analysis International® (ABAI) is a nonprofit membership organization with the mission to contribute to the well-being of society by developing, enhancing, and supporting the growth and vitality of the science of behavior analysis through research, education, and practice.

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46th Annual Convention; Washington DC; 2020

CE by Type: QABA


 

Workshop #W8
CE Offered: BACB/QABA — 
Ethics
ABA Billing Codes Commission Presents: Is That Billable? Understanding How to Bill Ethically and Effectively
Thursday, May 21, 2020
4:00 PM–7:00 PM
To Be Determined
Area: AUT/DDA; Domain: Service Delivery
CE Instructor: Sara Gershfeld Litvak, M.A.
JULIE KORNACK (Center for Autism and Related Disorders), BRYCE MILER (Trumpet Behavioral Health), SARA GERSHFELD LITVAK (Behavioral Health Center of Excellence)
Description: Led by members of the ABA Billing Codes Commission, this workshop will provide specific guidance for each of the CPT I billing codes for adaptive behavior. Elements of the workshop will include: • Review of billing code descriptors in the context of an ABA treatment plan • Best practices in clinical documentation for each billing code • Distinguishing the difference between supervision and direction of the technician • Billing for assessments • Medically Unlikely Edits – proper use and current status • Modifiers for complexity, telehealth • Potential changes to the codes • Minimizing claims denials • Additional codes to request in a contract negotiation • Valuing the codes • Ethical guidelines Participants will gain a deeper understanding of the intent of the billing codes and Medically Unlikely Edits; common billing obstacles; sustainable and ethical billing practices; the process and potential of valuing the codes; and changes to anticipate in the future.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the workshop, participants will be able to: (1) Understand current ABA CPT coding requirements to minimize claims denials; (2) Understand issues with current ABA CPT coding in order to advocate for and participate in making necessary changes; (3) Identify critical elements in a contract regarding the billing codes; (4) Be aware of ethical requirements; and (5) Understand new resources available through the Commission to correct Insurance Carrier payment errors on a global level.
Activities: This workshop will involve lecture, discussion, and small group breakouts. Participants will learn general concepts and then have the opportunity to apply them to specific circumstances. To ensure that the workshop addresses all relevant billing code issues, participants will also have the opportunity to ask questions related to their personal experience with the billing codes, which may differ widely based on geographic regions, payor contracts, and state laws. Participants will receive a toolkit to apply what they learn to their own practices.
Audience: The target audience is behavior analysts and others who use the adaptive behavior codes to bill for ABA-based programs and those professionals who bill ABA on behalf of behavior analysts.
Content Area: Practice
Instruction Level: Intermediate
Keyword(s): ABA codes, billing codes, CPT, insurance
 
Workshop #W9
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
Referent-Based Verbal Behavior Instruction
Thursday, May 21, 2020
4:00 PM–7:00 PM
To Be Determined
Area: AUT/VBC; Domain: Service Delivery
CE Instructor: Alonzo Alfredo Andrews, M.A.
ALONZO ALFREDO ANDREWS (The University of Texas at San Antonio), LEE L MASON (Cook Children's Health Care System; Texas Christian University)
Description: Skinner’s (1957) analysis of verbal behavior deconstructed language according to stimulus control. Although the functional independence of these verbal operants has been empirically demonstrated, more commonly, speaker’s verbal behavior is induced by a convergence of controlling stimuli. However, circumscribed stimulus control may inhibit the development of complex verbal repertoires for some individuals, including those with autism spectrum disorders. For this reason, in this workshop, we describe a behavior analytic intervention with the overarching goal of establishing multiple control over verbal behavior through the conditioning of referent stimuli.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) describe the strength of verbal operants in relation to one another; (2) demonstrate prompting and fading of verbal operants; and (3) demonstrate the process for transferring stimulus control across verbal operants
Activities: Workshop objectives will be met through a balanced presentation of lecture, video modeling, role-playing, and workbook demonstrations. Core content will be taught through lecture and video demonstrations of strategies will be provided. Guided notes will be provided in order to support participant learning.
Audience: This workshop is geared towards Board Certified Behavior Analysts, Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analysts, Registered Behavior Technicians, special education teachers, school psychologists, speech language pathologists, and other professionals who provide direct services to strengthen the language of children with autism. (Ideally, this workshop will follow our other workshop submission on the Verbal Behavior Stimulus Control Ratio Equation)
Content Area: Practice
Instruction Level: Basic
Keyword(s): control transfer, generative instruction, high-p sequence, verbal behavior
 
Workshop #W40
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP — 
Supervision
Training Caregivers in Schools and Human Services: From Research to Practice
Friday, May 22, 2020
8:00 AM–3:00 PM
To Be Determined
Area: AUT/DDA; Domain: Service Delivery
CE Instructor: Peter Sturmey, Ph.D.
PETER STURMEY (The Graduate Center and Queens College, City University of New York)
Description: 1. Behavioral Skills Training (BST) has been widely adopted in educational and residential services as a method to train socially significant, evidence-based skills that result in improvements in the skills of typical children and adults and with children and adults with developmental disabilities. 2. There are hundreds and small N experiments and tens of randomized controlled trials demonstrating the effectiveness, efficiency and acceptability of BST. 3. These studies have been published in peer-reviewed journals, such as JABA. 4. The content relates to ethical, legal, statutory and regulatory guidelines and standards such as: (1) ABAI's and BCBA ethical guidelines that practitioners should be competent and use effective evidence-based practices; (2) legal requirements to do no harm or minimize harm by having trained caregivers; and (3) strategies used by services to mitigate risks and liabilities by having competent staff and use evidence-based practices.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1)describe how to conduct a training needs assessment for their organization; (2)describe the components of behavioral skills training (BST); (3) conduct an adequate task analysis of a teaching skill; (4) describe a training procedure that incorporates role play scripts using strategies to promote generalization of skill; (5) describe strategies to develop pyramidal training; describe strategies to develop and evaluate system-wide caregiver training programs.
Activities: The workshop will include (1) didactic / lecture presentations on research that forms the basis for skills training; (2) written exercises to write tasks analyses, training procedures, general case and multiple case training analyses of caregiver performances; (3) varied videomodels of BST; and (4) group discussions of applications and development of plans.
Audience: This intermediate workshop will be appropriate for advances graduate students, Masters and Doctoral level practitioners, program administrators and faculty teaching classes in ABA.
Content Area: Practice
Instruction Level: Intermediate
Keyword(s): parent training, pyramidal training, staff training
 
Workshop #W58
CE Offered: BACB/PSY/QABA — 
Ethics
The Evolution of a Science: A Brief History of Behavior Analysis in the Twentieth Century
Friday, May 22, 2020
8:00 AM–3:00 PM
To Be Determined
Area: PCH/TBA; Domain: Theory
CE Instructor: A. Charles Catania, Ph.D.
A. CHARLES CATANIA (University of Maryland, Baltimore County)
Description: This history of our science reviews its origins and the co-evolution of basic and applied research in the context of major world events. Precursors through 1900 include Darwin and Thorndike. 1900s: Behavior emerges as a subject matter; 1910s: Watson's Behaviorist Manifesto; 1920s: Learning theorists; 1930s: Skinner joins Keller at Harvard, later writes Behavior of Organisms; 1940s: World War II leads to shaping, Walden Two, other innovations; 1950s: The Cold War provides context for Science and Human Behavior, Verbal Behavior; SEAB and JEAB founded; 1960s: The science grows despite cognitive-behavioral culture wars; JABA founded; our own organizations develop; applications and basic work grow side by side (e.g., "psychotic children"; time out); 1970s: Applications foster founding of programs; international extensions grow; the field, with roots in psychology, sees a viable future outside it; 1980s: Treatments of autism, self-injury, etc., establish conditions for credentialing and professional extensions; 1990s: Behavior analysis thrives mainly in cultural niches, but an explosion of applications brings increasing recognition; The 21st Century: Where do we go from here? (This workshop is based on a book in progress with Nancy Neef and Victor Laties as co-authors. It will probably be Catania's last ABAI workshop.)
Learning Objectives: 1. Participants should be able to describe how basic concepts (reinforcement, the operant, the 3-term contingency) evolved and played a role in the expanding influence of behavior analysis. 2. Participants should be able to outline how basic and applied dimensions of behavior analysis evolved in combination in the early history of the field, then separated mainly for practical editorial reasons, and eventually came back together to provide reciprocal benefits in translational studies and in the basic questions raised by applications. 3. Participants should be able to identify the innovations of major founders of behavior analysis, especially including Keller, Skinner, Schoenfeld, Ferster and Sidman. 4. Participants should be able to describe how the work of the major founders contributed to education in general and the education of those on the autism spectrum in particular. 5. Participants should be able to identify the 20th century contexts within which the major features of behavior analysis were created and evolved. 6. Participants should be able to identify factors that led to negative views of behavior analysis within the general culture: from aircribs and timeout and use of punishment to issues of verbal behavior and human freedom.
Activities: This workshop will consist of lecture organized by decades of the twentieth century, with breaks (usually between decades) for discussion and for exercises in historical fact-checking.
Audience: The content should be of interest to all behavior analysts, and especially to those relatively new to the field. It should also be useful for those who teach either basic or applied courses or practica and who wish to enrich the discussion of our history and the origins of our behavioral tools and methods. The workshop will demonstrate the cumulative nature of central concepts and will also emphasize how basic and applied research developed side by side from the very beginning. Early behavior analysts didn't even make the distinction, which came relatively late as a consequence of managing the practicalities of journal editing. To the extent that the two approaches have moved apart, translational research is drawing them back together.
Content Area: Theory
Instruction Level: Basic
Keyword(s): application milestones, behavior-analysis founders, experimental milestones, theoretical milestones
 
Workshop #W69
CE Offered: BACB/QABA — 
Supervision
Navigate Challenging Behavior Better: How to Supervise and Train Individuals to Comprehensively Address Challenging Behavior
Friday, May 22, 2020
4:00 PM–7:00 PM
To Be Determined
Area: AUT/DEV; Domain: Service Delivery
CE Instructor: Megan Miller, Ph.D.
MEGAN MILLER (#dobetter Pod)
Description: This workshop focuses on going beyond the typical training provided on functions of behavior and behavioral assessment to provide attendees with a more comprehensive understanding of how to supervise and train others to navigate challenging behavior. This workshop provides an overview of how to truly conduct functional assessment and analysis and reviews research in support of advancements in functional analysis technology (e.g., Hanley, 2015). It then provides a deeper dive into considerations relating to ethical and flexible application of extinction and maintaining analysis when designing behavior intervention plans.
Learning Objectives: Participants will be able to describe how to provide supervision relating to the primary purpose of functional assessment Participants will be able to identify at least 1 benefit to including advancements in functional analysis technologies during supervision Participants will be able to explain at least 1 ethical consideration regarding extinction to incorporate during supervision Participants will be able to describe at least 1 general guideline to follow when addressing challenging behavior during supervision Participants will be able to describe the importance of maintaining analysis in developing behavior intervention plans when supervising others on the development of such plans
Activities: This workshop combines interactive exercises designed to provide opportunities to reflect upon the experiences of trainees and clients when addressing challenging behavior with a behavioral skills training packet designed to demonstrate how to provide supervision to trainees on comprehensively addressing challenging behavior.
Audience: This workshop is intended for BCBAs with at least 2 years of experience and who are responsible for providing BACB fieldwork supervision.
Content Area: Practice
Instruction Level: Intermediate
Keyword(s): alternatives extinction, challenging behavior, comprehensive assessment, effective supervision
 
Workshop #W72
CE Offered: BACB/QABA/NASP
Teaching the Foundational Components of Pretend Play
Friday, May 22, 2020
4:00 PM–7:00 PM
To Be Determined
Area: AUT/VBC; Domain: Service Delivery
CE Instructor: Nancy J. Champlin, M.A.
NANCY J. CHAMPLIN (ACI Learning Centers), MELISSA SCHISSLER (ACI Learning Centers)
Description: Play is imperative to a child's development and is identified as one of the core deficits in children diagnosed with autism, often described as lacking in symbolic qualities and flexibility (Jarr & Eldevik, 2007). Evidence-based play interventions can positively impact future communication and language skills, cognitive functioning, as well as social interactions for individuals with autism and other developmental delays. Play should be an integral part of a child’s programming because of its importance to the child’s overall development (Wilburn, 2011). The purpose of this workshop is to train participants on how to teach the foundational components of pretend play utilizing the Pretend Play and Language Assessment and Curriculum (PPLAC). The PPLAC is a behaviorally-based curriculum formulated from the typical developmental sequence of play and language and utilized to establish and expand a child's pretend play repertoire. The five elements of play including agent, object, category of play, advanced play, and the essential skills to sociodramatic play are identified and separated into teachable components.
Learning Objectives: 1. Participants will be able to identify and examine the five elements of pretend play 2. Participants will be able to demonstrate implementation of targets from Stage 1: Single Agent in the Pretend Play and Language Assessment and Curriculum 3. Participants will be able to demonstrate collecting and analyzing data for targets in Stage 1 in the Pretend Play and Language Assessment and Curriculum 4. Participants will be able to demonstrate initiating play, positioning appropriately, effective prompting, and providing feedback following a play opportunity 5. Participants will be able to identify effective components of short-term and long-term pretend play goals
Activities: Workshop objectives will be met by alternating between didactic instruction, discussion, video modeling, and small group activities such as role play and practicing data collection. Participants will be provided with workbooks including presentation notes and sample data sheets.
Audience: Board Certified Behavior Analysts, Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analysts, Speech Language Pathologists, Special Educators
Content Area: Practice
Instruction Level: Intermediate
Keyword(s): Assessment, Curriculum, Pretend Play, Social
 
Workshop #W94
CE Offered: BACB/PSY/QABA
The Verbal Behavior SCoRE: Stimulus Control Ratio Equation
Friday, May 22, 2020
4:00 PM–7:00 PM
To Be Determined
Area: VBC/AAB; Domain: Service Delivery
CE Instructor: Lee L Mason, Ph.D.
LEE L MASON (Cook Children's Health Care System), ALONZO ALFREDO ANDREWS (The University of Texas at San Antonio)
Description: Skinner (1957) writes, "It is my belief that something like the present analysis reduces the total vocabulary needed for a scientific account." In many ways, then, this seems to me to be a better way of talking about verbal behavior" (p. 456). Language is a much sought after, yet elusive subject matter for scientific investigation. Skinner (1957) proposed that language fell within the scope of a science of behavior, and was therefore open to functional analysis and interpretation. Over the past 60 years, much has been done to further the scientific explanation, prediction, and control of verbal behavior as a function of environmental variables. This workshop provides a hands-on approach to conducting the Verbal Behavior Stimulus Control Ratio Equation (SCoRE), and analyzing the results of this assessment for developing individualized treatment plans for individuals with autism and other language disorders. Specifically, we describe language as a continuous variable, and explain procedures for assessing verbal behavior deficits. The procedures described in this workshop are empirically supported (Lerman et al., 2005; Mason & Andrews, 2014), and conceptually systematic with a behavior-analytic approach to language assessment and intervention (Mason & Andrews, 2018).
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) describe the strength of verbal operants in relation to one another; (2) conduct a verbal operant analysis; and (3) identify treatment objectives based upon the results of the SCoRE.
Activities: Workshop objectives will be met through a balanced presentation of lecture, video modeling, role-playing, and workbook demonstrations. Core content will be taught through lecture and video demonstrations of strategies will be provided. Guided notes will be provided in order to support participant learning.
Audience: This workshop is geared towards Board Certified Behavior Analysts, Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analysts, Registered Behavior Technicians, special education teachers, school psychologists, speech language pathologists, and other professionals who provide direct services to strengthen the language of children with autism.
Content Area: Practice
Instruction Level: Intermediate
Keyword(s): functional analysis, language assessment, stimulus control, verbal behavior
 
Invited Paper Session #23
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
A Search for Efficiency in Teaching Basic Skills to Implement Autism Intervention: Research on Technology-Based Training in Brazil
Saturday, May 23, 2020
10:00 AM–10:50 AM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 2, Room 207A
Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Research
Chair: Thomas S. Higbee (Utah State University)
CE Instructor: Romariz Barros, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: ROMARIZ BARROS (Federal University of Pará-Brazil; National Institute of Science and Technology on Behavior, Cognition, and Teaching)
Abstract:

The efficiency of behavior analytic intervention to autism spectrum disorder (ASD) increases when it is early, intensive, comprehensive, and long-lasting. This is particularly true for children with moderate to severe impairment. The above-mentioned key elements make behavior analytic intervention often inaccessible for most of the affected population in developing countries, such as Brazil. The main causes for that are: the shortage of trained professionals and the absence of specialized public services. Some of the families have the profile to be trained to participate in the intervention plan. Parental implementation may be an important tool for behavior analysts to deliver interventions with the required intensity, comprehensiveness, and extension. On the other hand, training technicians efficiently is another challenge. In this scenario, research focusing on the advancement of training procedures to develop implementation skills in parents of children diagnosed with ASD and also technicians is helpful. This presentation describes some of our applied research on teaching basic skills to implement behavior-analytic intervention to ASD. We describe our results with instructional video-modeling to teach parents to implement structured teaching and its impact on their respective children. We also compare results of implementation by parents to results of implementation by technicians. Research on training basic skills to implement incidental teaching is also reported, along with data on self-video-monitoring to prevent drifting in implementation by technicians. This research line as a whole is dedicated to developing useful tools for behavior analysts to quickly bring others to help in an intervention plan.

Instruction Level: Basic
Target Audience:

Students and professionals interested in the dissemination of Applied behavior analysis.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) identify the challenge of implementing large-scale, high-quality intervention to ASD in developing countries; (2) understand the importance of teaching technology to overcome such challenge; (3) analyze data concerning to the use of instructional video-modeling and video-monitoring as part of the solution.
 
ROMARIZ BARROS (Federal University of Pará-Brazil; National Institute of Science and Technology on Behavior, Cognition, and Teaching)
Romariz S. Barros is was born in Brazil in 1971. He is a Psychologist graduated at the Federal University of Pará-Brazil and Ph.D. on Experimental Psychology at the University of São Paulo. He has worked as a college professor at the Federal University of Pará-Brazil since 1997. He is currently a Full Professor at the Graduate Program on Theory and Research on Behavior. He is a Behavior Analyst accredited by the Brazilian Association of Psychology and Behavioral Medicine (ABPMC) and a member of the National Institute of Science and Technology on Behavior Cognition and Teaching.
 
 
Symposium #27
CE Offered: BACB/QABA/NASP
Three Examples of Autistic Stimulus Control Over Verbal Behavior
Saturday, May 23, 2020
10:00 AM–10:50 AM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 2, Room 201
Area: AUT/VBC; Domain: Service Delivery
Chair: Felipe Diaz (Guadalajara University)
CE Instructor: Lee L Mason, Ph.D.
Abstract: Language deficits are characteristic of individuals diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder according to both the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition, and the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision. In particular, individuals with autism show disproportionate levels of strength across environmental relations that control the verbal repertoire. For many providers, authorization of services is often contingent upon demonstrating an educational or medical necessity for behavior-analytic intervention. Treating operant classes as populations of behavior allows us to observe samples of the populations for experimentation and analysis, and from which inferences about the larger population can be drawn. By comparing related operants, we can demonstrate autistic stimulus control over structurally similar and functionally diverse properties of the environment. Here we extend functional analysis technology to examine response populations across operant classes to demonstrate statistically significant discrepancies in stimulus control over the verbal behavior of individuals diagnosed with autistic disorder. Our analyses and implications for and intervention will be discussed. Through multiple-exemplar training, we aim to establish discriminative control over a behavior analytic concept of autism from which other examples of disproportionate stimulus control may be extrapolated.
Instruction Level: Basic
Keyword(s): chi-squared test, Cochran's Q, inferential statistics, response populations
Target Audience: This workshop is geared towards Board Certified Behavior Analysts, Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analysts, Registered Behavior Technicians, special education teachers, school psychologists, speech language pathologists, and other professionals who provide direct services to strengthen the language of children with autism.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) describe the strength of verbal operants in relation to one another; (2) conduct a verbal operant analysis; (3) develop individualized treatment objectives from a stimulus control ratio; and (4) demonstrate the process for transferring stimulus control across verbal operants.
 
An Examination of Stimulus Control over Selection-Based Verbal Behavior
ALONZO ALFREDO ANDREWS (University of Texas at San Antonio)
Abstract: Previous research and practice regarding disproportionality of the elementary verbal operants noted in children with autism spectrum disorder focused primarily on those with at minimum emerging vocal verbal behavior repertoires. When regarding skill development of early and/or nonverbal performers to include conditioning listener responding, these relevant operants have been identified: manded stimulus selection, motor imitation, match to sample, selection by variable, and the SCoRE model of disproportionality. Using verbal operant analysis to determine relative balance across these relevant, prerequisite responses, potential treatment options include: if prepotence for manded stimulus selection is identified, then the specific strategies for functional communication training (e.g. mand training) with augmentative and alternative communication are prescribed. If relative strength of motor imitation is indicated, shaping procedures and high-p/low-p instructional sequencing are recommended to shape oral imitation to the echoic operant for which the transfer-of-stimulus-control, errorless teaching procedures prescribed for vocal verbal behavior are applicable. Lastly, insomuch as the prerequisite relevant operants function independently, when taught interdependently, generativity (relational flexibility) may be fostered in accordance with this proportionality model.
 

An Examination of Stimulus Control Over Topography-Based Verbal Behavior

JANET ENRIQUEZ (Texas Education Service Center, Region 20)
Abstract:

Individuals without a fluent speaking repertoire may show disproportionate levels of strength across samples of verbal operants. Verbal behavior is inherently social in that its reinforcement is mediated by a listener. Common examples of verbal behavior within the applied literature include conditioning mand, tact, echoic, and intraverbal control. Sampling responses from these four operant classes allows us to infer the overall strength of these populations of behavior, and analyze differences in their relative strength. The null hypothesis for this type of analysis is that the levels of strength across these four operants is proportionate, a phenomenon commonly described as “fluency” that facilitates transfer of stimulus control across changing environmental conditions. The alternative hypothesis is that the levels of strength across these four operants is disproportionate, a phenomenon commonly described as “autism” that inhibits transfer of stimulus control due to certain response prepotencies. Assessment strategies and implications for treatment will be discussed.

 

An Examination of Derivational Stimulus Control Over Intraverbal Behavior

LEE L MASON (Cook Children's Health Care System; Texas Christian University)
Abstract:

Individuals without derivational stimulus control may show disproportionate levels of strength across samples of intraverbal relations. Derivational stimulus control refers to the extent to which listeners effectively respond to verbal stimuli along a generalization gradient. Common examples of derivational stimulus control within the applied literature include reflexivity, symmetry, and transitivity. Sampling responses from these three operant classes allows us to infer the overall strength of these populations of behavior, and analyze differences in their relative strength. The null hypothesis for this type of analysis is that the levels of strength across these three operants is proportionate, a phenomenon commonly described as “listener comprehension” that facilitates prolonged verbal episodes and facilitates the development of other social skills. The alternative hypothesis is that the levels of strength across these three operants is disproportionate, a phenomenon commonly described as “autism” that inhibits transfer of stimulus control due to certain response prepotencies. Assessment strategies and implications for treatment will be discussed.

 
 
Invited Tutorial #34
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
SQAB Tutorial: How Advanced Computer Technology can Advance Research and Practice in Behavior Analysis
Saturday, May 23, 2020
10:00 AM–10:50 AM
Marriott Marquis, Level M2, Marquis Ballroom 6
Area: SCI; Domain: Basic Research
PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP CE Offered. CE Instructor: Ellie Kazemi, Ph.D.
Chair: David Roth (B. F. Skinner Foundation)
Presenting Authors: : ELLIE KAZEMI (California State University, Northridge)
Abstract:

The rapid growth in computer technology means that nearly anything imaginable is either possible or will soon become possible. Behavior analysts, as specialists in learning and behavior, are uniquely trained to become strong collaborators on multidisciplinary teams focusing on projects to advance machine learning, simulation-based experiences, and much more. In this tutorial, I will discuss how we currently leverage such technology in my lab and integrate robotics, virtual reality (VR), and artificial intelligence (AI) in our behavior analytic research. I will share the outcomes of some of our current research projects as well as my collaborative efforts on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) grants.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) describe how advanced computer-technology can be utilized in experimental analysis of human behavior; (2) discuss how computer-technology can be utilized to increase accessibility and efficiency of behavior skills training through simulation-based trainings; (3) explain how integration of computer-technology in behavior analytic research and practice can help extend the reach of behavior analysis.
 
ELLIE KAZEMI (California State University, Northridge)

Dr. Kazemi is a Professor at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) where she has developed and teaches undergraduate and graduate coursework in behavior analysis for the past 10 years. She founded the Masters of Science Program in Applied Behavior Analysis in 2010 and has collaborated with the CSUN community to provide graduate students high quality supervision experiences. She currently has two different lines of research. Her applied research interests involve identification of efficient, effective strategies for practical training, supervision, and leadership. Her laboratory research involves leveraging technology (e.g., robotics, virtual or augmented reality) for efficient training and feedback using simulations. She is currently working on several nationwide large projects (e.g., with FEMA and NASA) with a focus on effective training and behavioral outcomes. She has received several mentorship awards including the ABAI Best Mentor Award, the Outstanding Faculty Award, the Outstanding Teaching Award, and the Outstanding Service Award. She has published articles and book chapters on a variety of topics including training, staff turnover, and the use of technology in behavior analysis. She is the leading author of a handbook written for both supervisors and supervisees that is titled, Supervision and Practicum in Behavior Analysis: A Handbook for Supervisees.

 
 
B. F. Skinner Lecture Series Paper Session #52
CE Offered: BACB/PSY/QABA
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Post-Traumatic Problems in Living
Saturday, May 23, 2020
11:00 AM–11:50 AM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 1, Salon C
Area: CBM; Domain: Service Delivery
Chair: Amy Murrell (University of North Texas)
CE Instructor: Amy Murrell, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: SONJA BATTEN (Flexible Edge Solutions)
Abstract:

Traumatic experiences can have significant, and long-lasting, effects on the individuals who survive them. Frequently, clients who live through trauma experience a host of behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and physical health problems. When these individuals come to therapy, most of them are hoping that they will be able to eliminate the nightmares, memories, anger, anxiety, and other posttraumatic symptoms that they experience. In fact, most of them have tried many things (such as isolation, substance abuse, even suicide attempts) to manage these symptoms. However, what many of these individuals fail to realize is that their heroic efforts to avoid the pain of their posttraumatic experiences may actually be making things worse - and may even be the heart of the problem. In many ways, despite their best efforts, trauma survivors frequently find themselves trapped in a life that is largely devoted to the avoidance of pain. Effective empirically supported treatments for posttraumatic symptoms have been developed to aid trauma survivors in improving traditional PTSD symptoms. However, they are not universally effective, and not all clients are willing to engage in exposure-based treatment. In addition, given the high levels of psychiatric comorbidity with PTSD, treatments are needed that can cut across diagnostic categories and begin to treat presenting problems based on functional dimensions. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, a contemporary behavior therapy, provides an alternative to the feel-good agenda and instead focuses on helping clients to reconnect with those ideals and principles for living that are deeply important to them and that dignify the difficult events that they have survived. This presentation will introduce clinicians to contextual behavioral tools to work with trauma survivors on identifying each person’s valued life directions and then help motivate experiential acceptance and behavior change in the service of those values.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Clinicians, supervisors, students

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) describe an understanding of posttraumatic problems in living based on a framework of experiential avoidance; (2) adapt traditional exposure-based interventions for an acceptance-based model; (3) promote life changes by helping clients move toward their values, rather than away from their pain.
 
SONJA BATTEN (Flexible Edge Solutions)
Sonja V. Batten, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist with a specialization in traumatic stress, who has worked in policy, clinical, and research leadership positions in the public and private sectors. Dr. Batten is a peer-reviewed ACT trainer, a Past-President and Fellow of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science, the author of Essentials of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and the co-author of Committed Action in Practice. Dr. Batten is an experienced leader with a demonstrated history of working in the management consulting and health care industries. She is also a certified Change Management Practitioner and an experienced Executive Coach and Mentor.
 
 
Invited Paper Session #54
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
TRAUMA: Behavioral and Neurological Perspectives on Trauma
Saturday, May 23, 2020
11:00 AM–11:50 AM
Marriott Marquis, Level M4, Liberty I-L
Chair: Carla H. Lagorio (University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire)
CE Instructor: Carla H. Lagorio, Ph.D.
Presenting Authors: PATRICK C. FRIMAN (Boys Town), K. MATTHEW LATTAL (Oregon Health)
Abstract: Non-scientifically oriented clinicians and counselors have coopted the concept of trauma, established a related dogma, and attempted with some success to keep behaviorally oriented professionals at bay. This is tricky territory. The concept has been used to label and/or describe so many different types of human experience that it has become almost meaningless. It has no operational definition, at least not one widely accepted. Yet on closer inspection, regardless of its definition, the concept would seem perfectly suited for a behavioral analysis. In the simplest of terms, trauma appears to refer to aversive events that dramatically increase the negative reinforcement associated with avoidance of events that are topographically and/or functionally related to those events. The amount of avoidance exhibited by afflicted individuals impairs their diurnal and nocturnal functioning. The most effective approach would almost certainly involve escape extinction. However, because of the highly politicized nature of the concept, language describing that approach would almost certainly have to have more colloquial features in order to recruit any acceptance outside the field of behavioral analysis. This presentation will discuss trauma from that perspective.
Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students. 

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) discuss approaches to PTSD and addiction; (2) discuss the persistent effects of trauma; (3) discuss ways to suppress fearful behaviors and drug-seeking behaviors; (4) discuss the neurobiological changes associated with trauma.
 
Trauma Drama: A Behavior Analytic Perspective on Trauma
PATRICK C. FRIMAN (Boys Town)
Abstract: A common finding from rodent studies of drug abuse is that acute or chronic stress can reinstate drug-seeking behavior after extinction. In most of these studies, the stressor occurs during the reinstatement test; very little is known about the effects on drug-seeking behaviors long after the stressor has occurred. We have developed a behavioral approach in which an acute stressor in one context causes persistent effects on drug-seeking behaviors in a different context. This approach models some of the persistent effects of trauma on relapse that often occur in patients with a diagnosis of comorbid post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD) and substance use disorder. I will describe some of the basic characteristics of this approach, including applications to different drugs of abuse and natural rewards, some of the underlying neurobiology, and how we have used this approach to evaluate potential treatments. These treatments focus on promoting extinction by pairing nonreinforced presentations of a stimulus or response during extinction with delivery of a drug that promotes epigenetic mechanisms that are involved in long-term memory. This leads to a persistent suppression of behavior that appears to resist environmental manipulations that cause relapse (such as exposure to cues or contexts previously associated with drugs of abuse). Implications of this approach for animal models of PTSD and addiction will be discussed.
Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students. 

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) discuss approaches to PTSD and addiction; (2) discuss the persistent effects of trauma; (3) discuss ways to suppress fearful behaviors and drug-seeking behaviors; (4) discuss the neurobiological changes associated with trauma.
 
Trauma, Extinction, and the Problem of Relapse
K. MATTHEW LATTAL (Oregon Health)
 
 
Invited Paper Session #69
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
Recent Advances in Relational Frame Theory: Implications for Education and Clinical Behavior Analysis
Saturday, May 23, 2020
12:00 PM–12:50 PM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 3, Ballroom AB
Area: CBM; Domain: Basic Research
Chair: Amy Murrell (University of North Texas)
CE Instructor: Yvonne Barnes-Holmes, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: YVONNE BARNES-HOLMES (Ghent University)
Abstract:

The first book-length treatment of RFT was published almost 20 years ago in 2001. In recent years, a number of conceptual advances have been made in the theory that have implications for its application in both educational and clinical domains. The first of these is the emergence of a type of periodic table for conceptualizing derived relational responding, known as the multi-dimensional, multi-level framework (the MDML). The presentation will explain how this framework provides opportunities for conceptualizing and remediating the core skills required for basic and advanced language and cognition in educational contexts. The second of these is a recent extension to the MDML framework, called the hyper-dimensional, multi-level framework (the HDML), that incorporates the orienting and evoking functions of stimuli that participate in derived relations. The presentation will explore how this recent extension connects basic research in RFT to clinical behavior analysis. Overall, the case will be made that although RFT should be seen as a work in progress, the theory continues to offer insights that will potentially improve functional-analytic methods for assessing and treating behavioral problems.

Instruction Level: Basic
Target Audience:

Behavior analysts with an interest in development and clinical behavior analysis.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) discuss recent developments in relational frame theory (RFT), including the MDML and the HDML frameworks; (2) discuss RFT’s implications for education and remediation; (3) discuss RFT’s implications for clinical behavior analysis.
 
YVONNE BARNES-HOLMES (Ghent University)
Yvonne Barnes-Holmes is Associate Professor in Behavior Analysis and Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Clinical, Experimental, and Health Psychology at Ghent University, Belgium, although she is a native of Northern Ireland. She completed her Ph.D. at the National University of Ireland Maynooth in 2001 on developmental studies in Relational Frame Theory (RFT). She took up her first academic post at the same university in 2003 and worked there until 2015, when the research team she shares with her husband Dermot Barnes-Holmes moved to Belgium as part of a multi-million Euro research award to study the implications of RFT for psychotherapy. Professor Barnes-Holmes has published several books and over 150 scientific articles and book chapters. She has authored or given over 400 presentations and workshops. She is a World Trainer in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and has had a private clinical ACT practice for 22 years, providing global individual therapy and clinical supervision.
 
 
Invited Paper Session #79
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
TRAUMA: Effects of Trauma on Risk and Protective Factors
Saturday, May 23, 2020
12:00 PM–12:50 PM
Marriott Marquis, Level M4, Liberty I-L
Chair: Jessica Singer-Dudek (Teachers College, Columbia University)
CE Instructor: Jessica Singer-Dudek, Ph.D.
Presenting Authors: JEANNIE GOLDEN (East Carolina University), MARLA BRASSARD (Teachers College, Columbia University)
Abstract: Trauma in the form of child abuse and neglect at the hands of parents or caregivers has devastating psychosocial and neurological effects on children that may last throughout their lifespan. Children who have experienced maltreatment often fail to learn attachment to their parents or caregivers and this impairs their ability to form healthy attachments and experience reciprocal and caring relationships with others. Lack of attachment is associated with a lack of moral behavior, heightened processing of threat-related information, emotional dysregulation, depression, anxiety, dissociation, maladaptive coping strategies, risky sexual behaviors and increased risk for substance abuse. This presentation will provide a behavioral explanation of why maltreated children often do not learn attachment behaviors and receive negative reinforcement in the form of avoiding or escaping negative emotions. This explanation has several implications for treatment including why and how attachment behaviors can be learned.
Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this presentation, participants will be able to: (1) state several examples of behaviors related to lack of attachment; (2) state several of the devastating effects of maltreatment and lack of attachment; (3) explain why maltreated children often do not learn attachment behaviors; (4) describe how maltreated children receive negative reinforcement in the form of avoiding or escaping negative emotions; (5) describe how attachment behaviors can be learned; (6) identify which of the following are causally affected by maltreatment in childhood and which are not, using data from genetically sensitive studies: cognitive deficits, psychopathology, educational outcomes, personality disorders, hearing impairments, and adult height; (7) list five areas where PM is more harmful that other forms of maltreatment and three mechanisms that likely account for its harmful effects; (8) identify behavioral parenting programs that are effective in improving the quality of observed parenting of children in preschool to adolescence but harmful for infants and toddlers; (9) describe the developmental context that likely accounts for the difference and the characteristics of programs that are effective with parents of very young children; (10) describe three research-supported prevention programs for PM and describe a public health approach for addressing PM and other forms of child maltreatment.
 
The Effects of Trauma on Attachment: A Behavioral Perspective
JEANNIE GOLDEN (East Carolina University)
Dr. Jeannie A. Golden is a licensed psychologist who received her Ph.D. in school psychology from Florida State University in 1981. Dr. Golden has taught in the psychology department at East Carolina University for 38 years and became the first national board certified behavior analyst in North Carolina in 2000. Dr. Golden received ECU teaching awards in 2001 and 2009, the FABA Honorary Lifetime Membership Award in 1994, the NCABA Fred S. Keller Excellence in Behavior Analysis Award in 2005, the ECU Scholarship of Engagement Award in 2012, the NCABA Do Things Award for Outstanding and Sustained Contributions in 2013, the ECU Psychology Department Award for Distinguished Service in 2015, and the ECU Psychology Department Faculty Appreciation Award for Mentoring in 2017. Dr. Golden and colleagues received grants from Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust (2008-2011) and the Department of Health and Human Services (2011-2016) to provide school-based mental health services in two rural, impoverished counties in North Carolina. In March of 2018, Dr. Golden and colleagues were awarded the Creating New Economies Fund Grant by Resourceful Communities for the Greene County Community Advancement Project.
Abstract: United States state statutes demonstrate a clear hierarchy in how harmful the different forms of child maltreatment are perceived (Baker & Brassard, 2019), but research does not support prioritizing of one form of child maltreatment over another. This presentation presents the evidence (briefly) for considering psychological maltreatment (PM) the equal of child sexual abuse, physical abuse, and physical neglect in contributing to adverse outcomes across the lifespan. Because PM, like corporal punishment, is so common, it challenges traditional short-term, narrowly focused, post-trauma reactive intervention practices, toward more sensitive and effective child protection and increased emphasis on primary prevention and good caregiving to achieve child well-being. Interventions with the greatest likelihood of success are presented – those consistent with ABA practice and those that may require shift in thinking.
Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this presentation, participants will be able to: (1) state several examples of behaviors related to lack of attachment; (2) state several of the devastating effects of maltreatment and lack of attachment; (3) explain why maltreated children often do not learn attachment behaviors; (4) describe how maltreated children receive negative reinforcement in the form of avoiding or escaping negative emotions; (5) describe how attachment behaviors can be learned; (6) identify which of the following are causally affected by maltreatment in childhood and which are not, using data from genetically sensitive studies: cognitive deficits, psychopathology, educational outcomes, personality disorders, hearing impairments, and adult height; (7) list five areas where PM is more harmful that other forms of maltreatment and three mechanisms that likely account for its harmful effects; (8) identify behavioral parenting programs that are effective in improving the quality of observed parenting of children in preschool to adolescence but harmful for infants and toddlers; (9) describe the developmental context that likely accounts for the difference and the characteristics of programs that are effective with parents of very young children; (10) describe three research-supported prevention programs for PM and describe a public health approach for addressing PM and other forms of child maltreatment.
 
Interventions to Address Psychological Maltreatment, a Common and Harmful Form of Childhood Trauma
MARLA BRASSARD (Teachers College, Columbia University)
Marla R. Brassard, Ph.D., is a Professor in the School Psychology Program at Teachers College, Columbia University. For 37 years her research has focused on parenting, especially psychological maltreatment (PM) of children by parents, a non-physical form of abuse and neglect, that research shows is the equivalent in adverse causal impact to other forms of maltreatment and the most related to depression and suicidal behavior. Recently her work has expanded to include parenting in other high stress contexts, specifically parenting a young child with autistic spectrum disorder, with a focus on interventions that enhance parental well-being and increase quality of parenting. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and past president of the Council of Directors of School Psychology Programs.
 
 
Panel #80
CE Offered: BACB/QABA/NASP — 
Ethics
The State of Our Union: Current Issues and Future Directions of Behavior Analysis
Saturday, May 23, 2020
12:00 PM–12:50 PM
Marriott Marquis, Level M1, University of D.C. / Catholic University
Area: PCH/DDA; Domain: Translational
CE Instructor: Justin B. Leaf, Ph.D.
Chair: Joseph H. Cihon (Autism Partnership Foundation; Endicott College)
JUSTIN B. LEAF (Autism Partnership Foundation; Endicott College)
ROBERT K. ROSS (Beacon ABA Services)
MELISSA L. OLIVE (Applied Behavioral Strategies LLC)
Abstract:

The field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) has grown faster than many of us have ever imagined. Current projections estimate there will be over 120,000 Behavior Analysts worldwide within the next 5 years. The panelists will provide the audience with their perspective about the current state of the field. In doing so the panelists will discuss areas in which ABA has excelled (e.g., functional analysis, certifying individuals, single subject designs) as well as areas requiring additional growth (e.g., marketing, collaborating with other fields, large scale outcomes). Additionally, the panelists will provide their perspective on the future directions of ABA (e.g., private equity, increasing number of technicians, licensure laws) and how behavior analysts can continue to promote quality behavioral intervention with the new challenges. All Board Certified Behavior Analysts have an ethical responsibility to our profession to “uphold and advance the values, ethics and principles of the profession of behavior analysis” (BACB Professional and Ethical Compliance Code for Behavior Analysts, Section 6.01). As such, the panelists will also discuss current and future ethical responsibilities to the field. Questions and comments from the audience will be encouraged throughout.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Graduate students, practitioners, researchers, and professors.

Learning Objectives: 1. Attendees will identify the difference between certification and scope of competence. 2. Attendees will identify how they can comply with the BACB Professional and Ethical Compliance Code, Sections 6.01 & 6.02. 3. Attendees will identify 5 strategies they can use in their everyday practice that will support ethical practice in Behavior Analysis.
Keyword(s): certification, ethics, Growth, quality intervention
 
 
Invited Tutorial #82
CE Offered: BACB/PSY/QABA — 
Ethics
SQAB Tutorial: Back to the Lab: Human Behavioral Pharmacology Methods, Outcomes and Meanings
Saturday, May 23, 2020
12:00 PM–12:50 PM
Marriott Marquis, Level M2, Marquis Ballroom 6
Area: SCI; Domain: Basic Research
BACB/PSY/QABA CE Offered. CE Instructor: William Stoops, Ph.D.
Chair: Derek D. Reed (University of Kansas)
Presenting Authors: : WILLIAM STOOPS (University of Kentucky)
Abstract:

Human behavioral pharmacology methods have been used to rigorously evaluate the effects of a range of centrally acting drugs in human beings under controlled conditions. Methods like drug self-administration and drug-discrimination have been adapted from non-human laboratory animal models. Because humans have the capacity to communicate verbally, self-report methods are also commonly used to understand drug effects. This presentation will provide an overview of these traditional human behavioral pharmacology methods, as well as more novel measures that have been introduced to the field. Representative data will be shared and the benefits, challenges and translational relevance of each method will be discussed. This session will cover guiding principles in the design of human behavioral pharmacology studies (e.g., using placebo controls, testing multiple doses) along with ethical (e.g., avoiding enrollment of individuals seeking treatment, determining capacity to consent) and safety (e.g., dose selection, pre-screening of participants for exclusionary health problems) that must be addressed when conducting these types of studies.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) understand basic methods used in human behavioral pharmacology research; (2) know how ethical and safety issues are addressed in human behavioral pharmacology studies; (3) appreciate the clinical relevance of human behavioral pharmacology findings.
 
WILLIAM STOOPS (University of Kentucky)
Dr. William W. Stoops, a Professor in the Departments of Behavioral Science, Psychiatry and Psychology at the University of Kentucky, earned his Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Davidson College in Davidson, NC and his Master’s degree and Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Kentucky. His research evaluates the behavioral and pharmacological factors that contribute to drug use disorders, focusing primarily on stimulant drugs. Dr. Stoops’ research contributions resulted in receipt of the 2016 Psychologist of the Year Award from the Kentucky Psychological Association, the 2013 Joseph Cochin Young Investigator Award from the College on Problems of Drug Dependence and the 2008 Wyeth Young Psychopharmacologist Award from Division 28 (Psychopharmacology and Substance Abuse) of the American Psychological Association (APA). Dr. Stoops currently serves on the College on Problems of Drug Dependence Board of Directors and is Editor of Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology.
 
 
Invited Paper Session #110
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
TRAUMA: Prevention of Traumatic Events: Use of Antecedent and Generalization Strategies
Saturday, May 23, 2020
3:00 PM–3:50 PM
Marriott Marquis, Level M4, Liberty I-L
Chair: Kelly M. Schieltz (University of Iowa)
CE Instructor: Kelly M. Schieltz, Ph.D.
Presenting Authors: RON VAN HOUTEN (Western Michigan University), RAYMOND MILTENBERGER (University of South Florida)
Abstract: Pedestrian crashes have been on an increasing trend in recent years. Reasons possibly include increased levels of distracted driving, increased speeding behavior, and increased walking. Behavioral science has contributed to ways to increase driving yielding behavior on a community wide basis and the development on antecedent interventions that have been documented to increase reduce unsafe behavior and crashes. This presentation will focus on discussing some of the more important techniques as well as why antecedent interventions are effective without obvious sources of reinforcement.
Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) describe the validity of different approaches to the assessment of safety skills; (2) describe behavioral skills training and its limitations for teaching safety skills; (3) describe in situ training for teaching safety skills; (4) describe strategies for promoting generalization of safety skills; (5) list several important variables used to change cultural safety practices; (6) discuss why interventions that rely on antecedents so effective, and how to further increase their efficacy; (7) discuss how the effect of behavioral safety methods on crashes is evaluated.
 
Reducing Pedestrian Injuries and Deaths
RON VAN HOUTEN (Western Michigan University)
Dr. Van Houten received his BA from SUNY at Stony Brook and his MA and Ph.D. from Dalhousie University, where he received training in the experimental analysis of behavior. He is currently professor of psychology at Western Michigan University. Dr. Van Houten has published extensively in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA) on a wide variety of problems, such as the education of inner city youth and children with “learning disabilities,” the treatment of children and adults with developmental delays, the treatment of clinical problems in children, traffic safety, energy conservation, and aviation safety. Currently Dr. Van Houten is a member of the Transportation Research Board and a member of the National Committee for Uniform Traffic Control Devices. He is a past associate editor for JABA and a Fellow of ABAI. Dr. Van Houten is also an avid pilot of power aircraft and gliders and a flight instructor.
Abstract: This presentation will discuss research on teaching safety skills to children. It will describe different approaches to assessment of safety skills and the validity of these approaches. It will describe research on the effectiveness of interventions for teaching safety skills with an emphasis on active learning approaches including behavioral skills training and in situ training. The presentation will discuss the issue of generalization, the limits of behavioral skills training for promoting generalization, and strategies that can be used to enhance generalization. The presentation will discuss the issue of accessibility and strategies for increasing accessibility of effective interventions.
Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) describe the validity of different approaches to the assessment of safety skills; (2) describe behavioral skills training and its limitations for teaching safety skills; (3) describe in situ training for teaching safety skills; (4) describe strategies for promoting generalization of safety skills; (5) list several important variables used to change cultural safety practices; (6) discuss why interventions that rely on antecedents so effective, and how to further increase their efficacy; (7) discuss how the effect of behavioral safety methods on crashes is evaluated.
 
Teaching Safety Skills: What Does It Take to Get Children to Do the Right Thing?
RAYMOND MILTENBERGER (University of South Florida)
Dr. Raymond G. Miltenberger received his Ph.D. from Western Michigan University and currently is professor of psychology and director of the Applied Behavior Analysis Master’s Program at the University of South Florida. He is the author of a highly regarded textbook on behavior modification, which is used at many universities across the country in both undergraduate and graduate courses. Dr. Miltenberger is most well known for having conducted a long-standing and
systematic series of studies on clinical (habit) disorders, prevention of abduction, and firearms safety. In particular, his research in the latter two areas has been characterized by the highly creative use of simulations and generalization testing, and by the careful development of task-analysis-based instruction described as “behavioral skills training.” In recognition of this work, he has received the Award for Distinguished Contributions to Applied Research from the
American Psychological Association (Division 25), and he has served as president of ABAI. 
 
 
Invited Tutorial #112
CE Offered: BACB/PSY/QABA
SQAB Tutorial: Creating Artificial Organisms Animated by a Selectionist Theory of Adaptive Behavior Dynamics
Saturday, May 23, 2020
3:00 PM–3:50 PM
Marriott Marquis, Level M2, Marquis Ballroom 6
Area: SCI; Domain: Theory
BACB/PSY/QABA CE Offered. CE Instructor: Jack McDowell, Ph.D.
Chair: Marcus Jackson Marr (Georgia Tech)
Presenting Authors: : JACK MCDOWELL (Emory University)
Abstract:

The evolutionary theory of behavior dynamics (ETBD) is a complexity theory, which means that it is stated in the form of simple low level rules, the repeated operation of which generates high level outcomes that can be compared to data. The low level rules of the theory implement Darwinian processes of selection, reproduction, and mutation. This tutorial is an introduction to the ETBD, and will illustrate how the theory is used to animate artificial organisms that behave freely, and continuously, in any desired experimental environment. Extensive research has shown that the behavior of artificial organisms animated by the theory successfully reproduces the behavior of live organisms, in qualitative and quantitative detail, in a wide variety of experimental environments, including concurrent ratio schedules with equal and unequal ratios in the components, and concurrent interval schedules with and without punishment superimposed on one or both alternatives. An overview and summary of the research testing the ETBD will be provided. The material interpretation of the theory as an instance of supervenient realism will also be discussed. Finally, possible future directions will be considered with an eye toward identifying the most valuable path or paths for future development.

Instruction Level: Basic
Target Audience:

Behavior analysts interested in the basic science; individuals interested in computational theories of behavior or machine learning; individuals interested in modeling clinically significant human behavior.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) create artificial organisms animated by the selectionist theory; (2) run artificial organisms in experimental environments; (3) summarize empirical support for the theory; (4) consider possible material interpretations of the theory; (5) consider fruitful paths for further development of the theory.
 
JACK MCDOWELL (Emory University)

J. J McDowell received an A.B. from Yale University in 1972 and a Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1979. After completing his clinical internship, he joined the faculty of Emory University, where he is currently a professor in the Department of Psychology. Dr. McDowell is also a licensed clinical psychologist, and maintains a private practice of behavior therapy in Atlanta. Dr. McDowell's research has focused on the quantitative analysis of behavior. He has conducted tests of matching theory in experiments with humans, rats, and pigeons, has made formal mathematical contributions to the matching theory literature, and has proposed a computational theory of behavior dynamics. He has also written on the relevance of mathematical and computational accounts of behavior for the treatment of clinical problems. Dr. McDowell's current research is focused on his computational theory of selection by consequences, including studies of behavior generated by the theory's genetic algorithm, and possible implementations of the theory in neural circuitry. His work, including collaborations with students and former students, has been funded by NIMH, NSF, and NIDA. Dr. McDowell is a Fellow of the Association for Behavior Analysis International.

 
 
Symposium #118
CE Offered: BACB/QABA/NASP
Learning to Play the Behavioral Way
Saturday, May 23, 2020
3:00 PM–4:50 PM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 1, Room 102
Area: AUT/VBC; Domain: Applied Research
Chair: Nancy J. Champlin (ACI Learning Centers)
Discussant: Merrill Winston (Professional Crisis Management, Inc.)
CE Instructor: Nancy J. Champlin, M.A.
Abstract:

Teaching children to play is an integral part of development because it sets the occasion for having social and communicative interactions with peers, increases the likelihood of learning in natural and inclusive settings, and offers flexibility to be used in multiple environments (Barton & Wolery, 2008). Children with disabilities are observed to engage in spontaneous play less often and demonstrate fewer varied pretend play behaviors than children with typical development (Barton, 2015). The long-term effects of an impoverished play repertoire are observed in social interactions later in life. The purpose of this symposium is to review the research supporting the efficacy of the Pretend Play and Language Assessment and Curriculum (PPLAC) as an effective tool to systematically assess and teach both independent and sociodramatic pretend play and language skills to children ages 2-7. The PPLAC is a behaviorally-based curriculum formulated from the typical developmental sequence of play and language and utilized to establish and expand a child's pretend play repertoire. The five elements of pretend play are identified and separated in teachable components including: agent of play, object of play, category of play, advanced play and the essential skills to sociodramatic play.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Keyword(s): Curriculum, Pretend Play, script fading, social skills
Target Audience:

BCBA, BCBA-D, BCaBA, SLP, Special educators

Learning Objectives: 1. Participants will be able to identify five elements of pretend play including category, agent, object, advanced play, and the essential skills to sociodramatic play. 2. Participants will be able to identify the systematic approach to introducing and chaining targets in Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the Pretend Play and Language Assessment and Curriculum. 3. Participants will be able to describe the steps of utilizing a script fading procedure to teach a sequence of pretend play and language skills. 4. Participants will be able to identify effective prompting procedures and data based modifications when targeting multiple stages of pretend play. 5. Participants will be able to identify effective components for preparing a child to engage in appropriate sociodramatic play.
 

Teaching Single Play Actions and Corresponding Vocalizations to Children With Autism Utilizing the Pretend Play and Language Assessment and Curriculum

CHARLENE GERVAIS (Portia Learning Centre; Portia International), Naomi Abbey (Portia Learning Centre)
Abstract:

Children diagnosed with autism and other developmental delays often demonstrate a deficit in toy play when compared to typically developing peers and frequently require specific interventions to acquire appropriate toy play (DiCarlo & Reid, 2004). Teaching play skills to children diagnosed with autism by isolating the individual components within each stage of play can increase acquisition, maintenance, and generalization. The purpose of this study was to replicate the research presented by Nancy Champlin and Melissa Schissler to teach four children diagnosed with autism, ages 3-7, with varying profiles, single play actions and vocalizations across 20 targets in Stage 1: Single Agent from the Pretend Play and Language Assessment and Curriculum (PPLAC). Actions and vocalizations were taught across three elements of pretend play: agent, object, and essential skills to socio-dramatic play. Following mastery of single play actions with corresponding vocalizations, generalization to untrained toy items was assessed. Facilitators will discuss the modifications to the PPLAC made to accommodate the barriers presented by higher-needs participants.

 

Teaching a Sequence of Three Play Actions and Corresponding Vocalizations to Children With Autism Utilizing the Pretend Play and Language Assessment and Curriculum

KARI BENNETT (Portia Learning Centre)
Abstract:

Play skills demonstrated by children diagnosed with autism is often lacking in symbolic or social qualities (MacDonald, Sacramone, Mansdielf, Wiltz, & Ahearn, 2009). The quality of children’s pretend play increases as they learn to sequence one play action after another (Stagnitti & Lewis, 2014). The purpose of this study was to utilize the developmental sequence of play and evaluate the effectiveness of teaching a series of 8 components encompassing the second developmental stage of play in the Pretend Play and Language Assessment and Curriculum (PPLAC), chaining play. Least-to-most prompting was used to teach a chain of three play actions and vocalizations to three children diagnosed with autism, ages 4-7. A sequence of play actions and vocalizations was targeted across agent of play, advanced play, and the essential skills to sociodramatic play. The outcome of this study demonstrated the efficacy of the eight teaching components as steps to teach all three children a chain of play actions with corresponding vocalizations across agent of play and object of play, independently and with peers.

 

Teaching a Sequence of Seven Play Actions and Corresponding Vocalizations to Children With Autism Utilizing the Pretend Play and Language Assessment and Curriculum

ALEXANDRA MACDOUGALL (Portia Learning Centre)
Abstract:

Pretend play provides critical learning opportunities for all children in their everyday lives (Ozen, Batu, & Birkan, 2012) and behaviorally-based interventions have been effective in teaching children with autism appropriate play skills (Palechka & MacDonald, 2010). Deficits in play are linked to poor social relationships, limited expressive language, and high rates of stereotypic behavior (Casby, 2003; Lifter, 2005). The purpose of this study was to examine the use of a script fading intervention to teach two children diagnosed with autism between the ages of 5 and 7 years old a sequence of seven independent play actions and corresponding vocalizations for one character role in a multi-role play scheme. A multi-role play scheme involves complimentary character roles that are dependent on each other (e.g., pizza shop customer and pizza shop cashier). A multiple baseline design across play schemes was utilized to evaluate the effectiveness of script fading to teach the sequence of play. Script fading was determined to be an effective intervention for teaching a sequence of independent play.

 

Teaching Complimentary Character Roles Within a Play Scheme to Facilitate Social Pretend Play for Two Children Diagnosed With Autism

MELISSA SCHISSLER (ACI Learning Centers)
Abstract:

Both independent and sociodramatic play is vital to a child’s development. Children often relate to one another with compatible roles within a play scheme engaging in reciprocal roles that reflect complimentary social relationships (Goldstein & Cisar, 1992). The purpose of this study was to teach two children diagnosed with autism complimentary character roles in a play scheme. Each participant was taught a sequence of seven actions and corresponding vocalizations one for the primary role in the camping play and one for the secondary role in the camping play scheme. Contingent on each participant independently acquiring the character role in the target play sequence the participants were taught to engage in sociodramatic play by alternating actions and corresponding vocalizations to expand on the sequence of play that was taught. Acquisition of the independent play scheme and alternating actions with a peer were assessed and generalization to novel schemes and peers was evaluated.

 
 
B. F. Skinner Lecture Series Paper Session #133
CE Offered: BACB/QABA/NASP
Using Implementation Science to Open the Black Box of Trauma-Informed Schools
Saturday, May 23, 2020
4:00 PM–4:50 PM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 3, Ballroom AB
Area: EDC; Domain: Service Delivery
Chair: Robin Codding (Northeastern University)
CE Instructor: Robin Codding, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: STACY OVERSTREET (Tulane University)
Abstract:

The term “trauma-informed schools” has achieved buzzword status in our current educational landscape, fueled by the urgency schools feel to address the devastating effects of trauma on the academic, social, emotional, and behavioral functioning of our students. However, there is no clear consensus regarding the inputs, or the core components, of trauma-informed schools and there have been no rigorous evaluations of their outputs, or the effects on students, teachers, or schools. If trauma-informed schools are to become more than a passing trend, we must work harder to describe the inputs, document the outputs, and explain the complex processes that link the two. In this presentation, I will summarize the core components of trauma-informed schools, identify key implementation factors thought to facilitate the adoption and maximize the impact of trauma-informed approaches, and review strategies to evaluate the impact of trauma-informed schools.

Instruction Level: Basic
Target Audience:

Educational practitioners and researchers.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) describe the core components of trauma-informed schools; (2) discuss implementation factors important for the successful adoption of trauma-informed approaches; (3) compare different evaluation strategies to evaluate the impact of trauma-informed schools.
 
STACY OVERSTREET (Tulane University)

Stacy Overstreet, Ph.D. is a Professor of Psychology at Tulane University.  Over the course of her career her research has focused on how sociological, cultural, familial, psychological, developmental, and biological processes influence and interact with one another over time to shape child adaptation to trauma.  Over the past ten years, she has translated that research to inform the implementation and evaluation of trauma-informed schools.  She has published several empirical and conceptual papers related to these areas and she was co-editor of a 2016 special issue on trauma-informed schools in the journal, School Mental Health.  Dr. Overstreet is a founding member of the New Orleans Trauma-Informed Schools Learning Collaborative.  Her work through the Collaborative includes a grant from the National Institute of Justice to determine whether a multi-component implementation strategy for trauma-informed schools improves school safety as well as a grant from the Department of Justice to develop and evaluate a Train the Trainer model for the implementation of trauma-informed schools.  

 
 
Invited Paper Session #134
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
TRAUMA: Flexibility After Trauma: Exploring Vitality Through ACT and Feldenkrais Method
Saturday, May 23, 2020
4:00 PM–4:50 PM
Marriott Marquis, Level M4, Liberty I-L
Chair: Amy Murrell (University of North Texas)
CE Instructor: Amy Murrell, Ph.D.
Presenting Authors: MIRANDA MORRIS (DC ACT Consortium; Private Practice), CHRISH KRESGE (Private Practice)
Abstract: Trauma can have profound and lasting effects on the lives of survivors. The impact on psychological functioning can be particularly severe and may have interpersonal, professional, and health consequences. While not all survivors experience long term problems, those who do can find their lives ruled by the experience of trauma. Acceptance and Commitment therapy (ACT) holds that the long-term negative sequelae of trauma are primarily driven by two processes: avoidance and cognitive fusion (excessive, ineffective attempts to control unwanted private experiences). That is, survivors’ attempts to “not have” the memories, thoughts and feelings associated with the trauma may account for much of the distress associated with traumatic experiences. Together, avoidance and cognitive fusion function to increase psychological inflexibility and limit behavioral repertoires, costing survivors vitality, connection and engagement in valued living. The aim of ACT is to undermine these processes in order to increase psychological flexibility, defined in ACT as “the ability to contact the present moment more fully as a conscious human being, and to change or persist in behavior when doing so serves valued ends.” In working with trauma survivors, the ACT therapist focuses on helping survivors reconnect with their values and move towards what they care about. In this talk, I will review the relationship of psychological (in)flexibility to post traumatic symptomatology. In addition, I will discuss how to use ACT to help clients come to terms with traumatic events and to build meaningful lives that are defined not by the past, but by what matters.
Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) explain how avoidance and fusion maintain post traumatic problems; (2) define psychological flexibility as used in ACT; (3) explain how to help clients clarify values and take committed action in the service of those values; (4) to operationally define ABMN Essential #1: Movement with Attention; (5) recognize ABMN Essential #7: The Learning Switch; (6) recognize ABMN Essential #6: Flexible Goals; (7) identify when ABMN and the Feldenkrais Method may be useful and complementary treatments in cases of trauma and its recovery.
 
In the Wake of Trauma: Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to Cultivate Valued Living
MIRANDA MORRIS (DC ACT Consortium; Private Practice)

Miranda Morris, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Bethesda, MD. She treats a broad range of difficulties and specializes in trauma and anxiety. Miranda is a Peer Reviewed ACT Trainer and the founder of DC ACT, a organization with two primary objectives: 1) the dissemination of contextual behavioral therapies in the DC region and beyond, 2) the provision of support and training opportunities for aspiring ACT trainers. Miranda conducts regular workshops in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and related contextual behavioral therapies including Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) and Clinical RFT. She currently serves on the Executive Board of the the Association of Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS) and is President Emeritus of the the Mid Atlantic Chapter of ACBS (MAC-ACBS).

Abstract: Trauma can be defined in many ways; the two most common interpretations of the word are a physical injury or a deeply emotionally upsetting event. In both cases, trauma can result in neurological and physiological as well as psychological damage and change. This damage often occurs early in life, either as a result of a genetic condition, birth-related injury, illness during infancy, or early childhood abuse or neglect. The negative consequences of trauma are often addressed in clinical psychology and sometimes specifically through clinical behavior analysis. However, in these methodologies, key effects on the child's somatic functioning may be neglected. This presentation will propose that the Anat Baniel Method of Neuromovement® (ABMN), based on the work of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, may be used to address neurological, physiological, and movement limitations associated with childhood trauma. Further, the presentation will explicitly outline the overlap between applied behavior analysis and these methods through educating the audience on essential principles associated with ABMN and Feldenkrais Method® movement practices.
Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) explain how avoidance and fusion maintain post traumatic problems; (2) define psychological flexibility as used in ACT; (3) explain how to help clients clarify values and take committed action in the service of those values; (4) to operationally define ABMN Essential #1: Movement with Attention; (5) recognize ABMN Essential #7: The Learning Switch; (6) recognize ABMN Essential #6: Flexible Goals; (7) identify when ABMN and the Feldenkrais Method may be useful and complementary treatments in cases of trauma and its recovery.
 
From Fixing to Connecting Through Movement With Awareness
CHRISH KRESGE (Private Practice)

Chrish is a Feldenkrais® practitioner (1998) who works with people of all ages and backgrounds, using movement as a primary tool for improving self-awareness, posture, thinking, voice, and overall health and wellness.  Chrish is also an actor, producer and director. She is passionate about using her diverse skills and background to help people find their optimal selves, innate dignity and composure. Chrish has been teaching the Feldenkrais Method® across the world for over 21 years in places such as the U.S., Ghana, Morocco, France, and Nepal.  During her teaching of the Feldenkrais Method, Chrish offers her students an enriching experience consisting of mental and physical improvement through natural, easy, and pleasurable ways of moving, using the brain’s amazing capacity to reorganize the body. In addition to working with performing artists and business executives alike, Chrish specializes in working with children with disabilities and trauma, and is a graduate of the Anat Baniel Neuromovement® Method for Children. Her studies with Ruthy Alon (Movement Intelligence) have also informed her work in many ways. Chrish has served three terms on the national Board of Directors of the Feldenkrais Guild® of North America and has chaired numerous annual Feldenkrais Method® conferences in North America.

 
 
Invited Tutorial #137
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
SQAB Tutorial: Using Quantitative Theories of Relapse to Improve Functional Communication Training
Saturday, May 23, 2020
4:00 PM–4:50 PM
Marriott Marquis, Level M2, Marquis Ballroom 6
Area: SCI; Domain: Basic Research
PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP CE Offered. CE Instructor: Brian Greer, Ph.D.
Chair: Timothy A. Shahan (Utah State University)
Presenting Authors: : BRIAN GREER (Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School)
Abstract:

Functional communication training (FCT) has strong empirical support for its use when treating socially reinforced problem behavior. However, treatment effects often deteriorate when FCT procedures are challenged, leading to the recurrence of problem behavior, decreased use of the functional communication response (FCR), or both. Researchers have accordingly described a number of strategies to improve the long-term effectiveness of differential-reinforcement procedures (e.g., FCT). For example, Wacker et al. (2011) assessed the maintenance of FCT-treatment effects by periodically exposing the FCR to periods of extinction and found that additional exposure to FCT helped guard against the disruptive impact of later periods of extinction. Basic researchers have described similar modifications to behavior-reduction procedures based on quantitative theories of behavior (e.g., Behavioral Momentum Theory and Resurgence as Choice) that also should help mitigate treatment relapse. Our research team has recently begun investigating

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

BCBAs, applied and basic researchers

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) explain FCT and describe its efficacy; (2) describe at least one common challenge to FCT treatment effects; (3) describe at least two specific strategies for mitigating relapse of problem behavior following FCT.
 
BRIAN GREER (Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School)
Brian D. Greer is the founding director of the Severe Behavior Program within the Rutgers University Center for Autism Research, Education, and Services. He is an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics and a core member of the Brain Health Institute. He received a Bachelor of Science in psychology from the University of Florida in 2008, a Master of Arts in applied behavioral science in 2011 and a Ph.D. in behavioral psychology in 2013, both from the University of Kansas. He later completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. He has served on the board of editors and as a guest associate editor for the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. He is the 2013 recipient of the Baer, Wolf, and Risley Outstanding Graduate Student Award and the 2019 recipient of the B. F. Skinner Foundation New Researcher Award in the area of applied research. Dr. Greer is the Executive Director of the Society for the Quantitative Analyses of Behavior, and he currently supervises three R01 grants from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development on preventing relapse of destructive behavior using Behavioral Momentum Theory and Resurgence as Choice. He has helped to acquire and carry out over $10 million in federal grant funding.
 
 
B. F. Skinner Lecture Series Paper Session #151
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
About Reward
Saturday, May 23, 2020
5:00 PM–5:50 PM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 3, Ballroom AB
Area: BPN; Domain: Basic Research
Chair: Carla H. Lagorio (University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire)
CE Instructor: Carla H. Lagorio, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: WOLFRAM SCHULTZ (University of Cambridge)
Abstract:

The talk will describe the properties of neurons in the brain’s reward systems and how their action contributes to economic decision-making. Each of several reward systems, including the dopamine neurons, striatum, amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex, play a unique role in these processes. The details of this function are currently being investigated using designs based on behavioral theories, such as animal learning theory, machine learning and economic utility theory.

Instruction Level: Basic
Target Audience:

Anyone interested in brain processes.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) define reward; (2) explain the function of rewards; (3) explain how we make economic decisions; (4) discuss how the brain processes rewards; (5) explain how reward processes go wrong.
 
WOLFRAM SCHULTZ (University of Cambridge)

Wolfram Schultz is a graduate in medicine from the University of Heidelberg. After postdoctoral stays in Germany, USA and Sweden, and a faculty position in Switzerland, he works currently at the University of Cambridge. He combines behavioural, neurophysiological and neuroimaging techniques to investigate the neural mechanisms of rlearning, goal-directed behaviour and economic decision making. He uses behavioural concepts from animal learning theory and economic decision theories to study the neurophysiology and neuroimaging of reward and risk in individual neurons and in specific brain regions, including the dopamine system, striatum, orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala.

 
 
Invited Paper Session #152
CE Offered: BACB/QABA
Diversity submission The First Carbon Based Valley to Create Community, Social and Sustainability: Using Behavior Sciences for Population Level Change
Saturday, May 23, 2020
5:00 PM–5:50 PM
Marriott Marquis, Level M4, Liberty I-L
Area: CSS; Domain: Service Delivery
Chair: Thomas G. Szabo (Florida Institute of Technology)
CE Instructor: Thomas G. Szabo, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: DENNIS EMBRY (PAXIS Institute)
Abstract:

The Wright Brothers first powered flight by a human lasted 12 seconds in 1903. A year later—using processes of variation, testing in the real world, and selection—the Wright brothers had an airplane that flew for 90 minutes—an improvement of 450 times. Today, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner—my favorite aircraft with nearly 3 million air miles between American, United and the deceased Pan Am in my life—can fly straight up during takeoff and fly from New York to Sydney non-stop. The aircraft improved a million times over since the first powered flight, and a result of continuous variation, testing and selection.

Applied Behavior Analysis, as conceived by Don Baer, Mont Wolf, and Todd Risley, was a technical methodology to achieve greater good that philosophers of many stripes posited. The contingencies of reinforcement on behavior analysts, determine how well and thoughtful the behavioral technology gets selected to achieve the vision conceived my dissertation advisors.

Reading through the older Journals of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA), it is clear that many of the second-generation grad students, like me, were thinking and testing ABA for improving all manner social and behavioral ills. If you flip through those JABA’s, you can find all sorts of studies that could have been turned into commercial, real-world products and services that could have made an enormous beneficial change in our precious blue water and green jewel in space and for its inhabitants. That said, most of the contingencies, were and still are, for publications and grants, rather than real-world change. Outside of that, today, the major employment is for behavioral specialists working with children with Autism or other disorders.

Only a few ABA “products” are true large-scale enterprises, one of those being the PAX Good Behavior Game® and Triple P Parenting both touching millions of people. Both PAX GBG and Triple P have deep roots in the original science, but are both sold, trained, and supported around the world to very diverse customers.

My talk is about how to build the First Carbon Based Valley of behavioral scientists (mimicking the Silicon Valley) to develop, test and disseminate practical, proven, cost-effective strategies rooted in behavioral science to be scaled up, sold, implemented well with sustainable effects on human wellbeing for whole populations—not just private practice clients or persons with diagnoses. I will use examples of the population-level strategies I’ve built my career on: working with Sesame Street, Implementing a National Safety Program in New Zealand, state-level multiple baseline on tobacco control, parenting interventions, mission readiness involving military families, reducing county-wide meth use, and, of course, the Good Behavior Game. All of this has been done in the context of a for-profit business engaging in continuous improvement based on the principles of applied behavior analysis.

My call to the audience is to create the First Carbon Valley—linking early career and established career behavioral scientists to better the world with commercialized, continuously-proven behavioral science. I am willing to help start and support this effort, which we have already begun to do informally.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students. 

 
DENNIS EMBRY (PAXIS Institute)

Dennis D. Embry received his Ph.D. from the University of Kansas, focused on using ABA for population-level efforts with Sesame Street and the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety—ultimately implementing that work throughout New Zealand. Dr. Embry is president/senior scientist at PAXIS Institute in Tucson, and co-investigator at both Johns Hopkins Center for Prevention and the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy.  Founded in 1998, PAXIS Institute is an international prevention science company, focused on preventing mental, emotional, behavioral and related physical disorders at population-level. He is a SAMHSA/CMHS National Advisory Council member, the board of the National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health, and the scientific advisory board of the Children’s Mental Health Network. In the 1990s, he implemented the first RCT at population-level to reduce youth violence (PeaceBuilders) using ABA principles. In 1999, he began replicating the longitudinal Hopkin’s studies of the Good Behavior Game. Today Dr. Embry’s prevention efforts affecting more than one million children in 38 states, multiple provinces of Canada, and EU countries with multiple studies showing population-level reduction of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders using PAX GBG and evidence-base kernels. As grad student, Dr. Baer (his advisor) asked Dennis why he wanted to study ABA having a political and history background, the answer: “I want to use science to make our world a better place for children.”

 
 
Special Event #164
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
Presidential Scholar Address: Treating Antisocial Behaviors Among Children and Adolescents: From Behavior to Social Context
Saturday, May 23, 2020
6:00 PM–6:50 PM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 3, Ballroom AB
Instruction Level: Intermediate
Chair: Peter R. Killeen (Arizona State University)
CE Instructor: Peter R. Killeen, Ph.D.
 

Presidential Scholar Address: Treating Antisocial Behaviors Among Children and Adolescents: From Behavior to Social Context

Abstract:

Conduct Disorder in contemporary psychiatric diagnosis systems refers to a pattern of antisocial behaviors including acts of aggression, property destruction, stealing, vandalism, and cruelty. This is a lifelong impairing condition that has enormous costs to individuals, families, and society. This presentation highlights the problem, risk and causal factors and current treatments. One of the treatments we have studied is parent management training, which relies on principles and techniques of behavior analysis. Changing child, adolescent, and parent behavior seemed to be the major challenge as my work began. That turned out not to be anywhere near as daunting as addressing the challenges in society that directly support, foster, and in some cases cause aggression and antisocial behavior. The presentation will convey limitations of current intervention research, using my own work as a case study, and attend to broader foci that fall outside of any single model of behavior or discipline. Novel models of intervention delivery will be illustrated to convey ways to reach people in need but who receive none of our interventions or services.

 
ALAN KAZDIN (Yale University)
 
Alan E. Kazdin. Ph.D., ABPP, is Sterling Professor of Psychology and Child Psychiatry (Emeritus) at Yale University. Before coming to Yale, he was on the faculty of The Pennsylvania State University and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. At Yale, he has been Director of the Yale Parenting Center, Chairman of the Psychology Department, Director and Chairman of the Yale Child Study Center at the School of Medicine, Director of Child Psychiatric Services at Yale-New Haven Hospital.   Kazdin’s research has focused primarily on the treatment of aggressive and antisocial behavior in children and adolescents. His 750+ publications include 50 books that focus on methodology and research design, interventions for children and adolescents, behavioral and cognitive-behavioral treatment, parenting and child rearing, and interpersonal violence. His work on parenting and childrearing has been featured on NPR, PBS, BBC, and CNN and he has appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, ABC News, 20/20, and Dr. Phil. For parents, he has a free online course (Coursera), Everyday Parenting: The ABCs of Child Rearing (ABCs = Antecedents, Behaviors, Consequences).   Kazdin has been editor of six professional journals (Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Psychological Assessment, Behavior Therapy, Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice Current Directions in Psychological Science, and Clinical Psychological Science). He has received a number of professional awards including the Outstanding Research Contribution by an Individual Award and Lifetime Achievement Award (Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies), Outstanding Lifetime Contributions to Psychology Award and Distinguished Scientific Award for the Applications of Psychology (American Psychological Association), the James McKeen Cattell Award (Association for Psychological Science), and the Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in the Science of Psychology (American Psychological Foundation). In 2008, he was president of the American Psychological Association.
 
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) discuss current findings regarding aggressive and antisocial behavior among children and adolescents (e.g., prevalence, long-term course, risk and causal factors); (2) review the status of treatments for problem behaviors for children and adolescents; (3) consider the many contexts that in which antisocial behavior emerges and is maintained; (4) discuss novel models of delivering services that can be used to scale interventions and reach people who are neglected in the delivery of evidence-based (and non-evidence-based interventions).
 
 
 
Invited Paper Session #201
CE Offered: BACB/PSY/QABA
Current Dimensions of Applied Behavior Analysis in China: A Reflection of Twenty Years of Dissemination and Progress
Sunday, May 24, 2020
8:00 AM–8:50 AM
Marriott Marquis, Level M4, Independence A-C
Area: TBA; Domain: Theory
Chair: Lin Du (Teachers College, Columbia University)
CE Instructor: Lin Du, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: WEIHE HUANG (Creating Behavioral + Educational Momentum)
Abstract: In the West, the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) evolved from experimental analysis of behavior. In this evolutionary process, seven dimensions of ABA emerged: applied, behavioral, analytic, technological, conceptual, effective, and generality. On the other hand, ABA was introduced into mainland China 20 years ago and has been developing since then as a direct result of the rise of autism spectrum disorder. Therefore, the level of acceptance of, and interest in, the aforementioned seven dimensions varied in China. The different development of ABA dimensions in the West and in China can also be attributed to cultural and societal variables as well. This presentation will provide an overview of what I observed in the past two decades regarding the practice and research of ABA in China. Equipped with personal experience and relevant literature both in English and in Chinese, I will describe efforts and milestones of disseminating ABA in China. Based on this anthropological description, I will also share with participants my assessment of the current dimensions of ABA in China as well as recommendations to further elevate ABA practices and research in China.
Instruction Level: Basic
Target Audience:

Practitioners and researchers who are interested in diversity-related issues in general; providers and educators who are interested in providing programs to Chinese populations.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) describe the main difference of evolutionary courses of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) in the West and in China; (2) list seven core dimensions of ABA in general and describe at least four of the current dimensions of ABA in China in particular (as presented by the speaker); (3) identify at least two cultural and societal variables that have influenced the development of ABA in China.
 
WEIHE HUANG (Creating Behavioral + Educational Momentum)
 
 
Symposium #203
CE Offered: BACB/QABA/NASP
Current Trends in the Assessment of Treatment Outcomes of Behavioral Services for Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities
Sunday, May 24, 2020
8:00 AM–9:50 AM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 2, Room 202B
Area: AUT; Domain: Translational
Chair: Aida Tarifa Rodriguez (ABA España, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)
Discussant: Brian Reichow (University of Florida)
CE Instructor: Javier Virues Ortega, Ph.D.
Abstract:

The evaluation of treatment outcomes is key to a wider adoption of behavioral treatments by key players in health and education including health insurance providers, advocacy groups, and government agencies. As part of this symposium we will present a series of pioneering studies in the area of treatment evaluation and outcome research in behavioral services for people with autism and fragile X syndrome. Study 1 from Scott Hall's group at Standford University presents a randomized controlled trial of function-driven interventions for problem behavior provided via telehealth. Study 2 from Svein Eldevik's group at Oslo Metropolitan University presents a 10-year follow up of treatment outcomes for adolescents and adults that have received early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) during childhood. Study 3 by Bill Ahearn's group at the New England Center for Children presents an evaluation of an early detection and treatment protocol. The study hopes to demonstrate that early detection followed by early treatment can result in optimal outcomes for young children with autism. Finally, Study 4 by Javier Virues-Ortega's group at The University of Auckland and Universidad Autónoma de Madrid presents the results of a case-control study aimed at identifying neural biomarkers of treatment outcomes. The study compared a range of neural pathways in two groups of children with autism who had or had not received parent-managed behavioral intervention. Together these studies feature a variety of emerging approaches to evaluate behavioral services. Dr. Brian Reichow author of several high-impact Cochrane reviews of EIBI will discuss the session.

Instruction Level: Advanced
Keyword(s): biomarkers, EIBI autism, fragile X, outcome research
Target Audience:

Practitioners, researchers, advocates and policy decision-makers.

Learning Objectives: Understand the key characteristics of several approaches to outcome research in ABA including: 1. Randomized controlled trials and randomized clinical trials 2. Early detection studies 3. Extended follow-up and longitudinal analyses 4. Case-control studies
 

Delivering Early Interventions for Children With Fragile X Syndrome via Telehealth: Outcomes of a Randomized Controlled Trial

(Applied Research)
SCOTT S. HALL (Stanford University), Katerina Monlux (Stanford University/Oslo Met), Arlette Bujanda (Behavior Change Institute and Stanford University), Joy Pollard (Behavior Change Institute)
Abstract:

Introduction:Early Interventions for children with developmental disabilities are increasingly being delivered via telehealth to reduce health access disparities. In this paper, we describe the outcomes of a study designed to evaluate behavior analytic treatments for problem behaviors exhibited by young children with fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common known inherited cause of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Methods:Participants were 61 boys with FXS, aged 3 to 10 years, who exhibited problem behavior on a daily basis. Following a functional analysis, participants were randomized to receive function-based behavioral treatment over 12 weeks (n=26) or treatment as usual (n= 25). The primary outcome measures were scores obtained on the Aberrant Behavior Checklist- Community (ABC-C) and the Treatment Acceptability Rating Form - Revised (TARF-R). Results:Children who received function-based behavioral treatment via telehealth evidenced significant decreases in problem behavior compared to those who received treatment as usual (Cohen’s d = 0.65, p<.001). Scores obtained on the TARF-R indicated that treatment acceptability remained high at 4-week follow-up. Discussion:These data provide initial evidence to support the efficacy of delivering function-based behavioral treatments via telehealth for this population. The advantages and disadvantages of using RCT designs to evaluate treatment effects will be discussed.

 

Treatment Gains from Early Intensive Behavioral Interventionare Maintained in Adolescents and Adulthood

(Applied Research)
SVEIN EIKESETH (Oslo Metropolitan University ), Dean Smith (UK Young Autism Project), Diane W. Hayward (UK Young Autism Project), Catherine M. Gale (UK Behaviour Analysis and Research Group CIC), Lars Klintwall (Stockholm University)
Abstract:

This presentation reports the current outcomes of adolescents and adults with autism who received Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBI) in their childhood. Nineteen children (16 boys and three girls) who had received two years of EIBI starting at a mean age of 2.9 years took part in an extended follow up 12 years later. Results showed that participants had significantly increased their cognitive and adaptive standardized scores during the two years of EIBI, and that these gains were maintained 10 years after EIBI had ended. Participants also showed a significant reduction in autism symptoms between intake and follow-up. Participants had not received any additional psychiatric diagnoses and were not taking psychotropic medication at the 10-year follow up. Results indicate that treatment gains achieved in EIBI are maintained into adolescence. Treatment outcomes during adulthood are reported for eight children from Eikeseth, Smith, Jahr and Eldevik (2002, 2007) who received either three years of EIBI (n = 4) or three years of eclectic special education (n = 4). Preliminary results suggest that children who had received EIBI made larger gains and maintained their progress to a greater extent than those who received eclectic treatment. Overall, our results indicate that gains made after EIBI may persist into adolescence and adulthood.

 
Early Identification and Treatment of Autism Symptomatology in Infant Siblings
(Applied Research)
KATHRYN COUGER (New England Center for Children), Rebecca P. F. MacDonald (New England Center for Children), William H. Ahearn (New England Center for Children)
Abstract: Infant siblings of children diagnosed with ASD have a 19% recurrence risk at 3 years old (Ozonoff et al., 2011). The point at which symptoms emerge is documented in the literature as occurring within 6-12 months. Treatment protocols that have roots in ABA have shown best outcomes. Graupner and Sallows (2017), in a sample of 55 infant siblings, reported symptoms in children under 3 months old. They were able to remediate symptoms in 13 of 14 siblings. The purpose of this study was to replicate their findings. Currently 41 siblings under 6 months of age have been recruited and are receiving bi- weekly screenings focusing on identifying symptoms. Seven of those babies have shown some symptoms and ABA therapy and/or parent coaching has been provided. All babies receive standardized assessment at 3-month intervals. Data to date reveal that earlier age and greater intensity of treatment results in best outcomes. Interobserver agreement averaged 94%. These findings have implications for service delivery and long term financial obligations.
 
A Callosal Biomarker of Behavioral Intervention in Autism: A Case-Control Study
(Applied Research)
JAVIER VIRUES ORTEGA (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid The University of Auckland), Nerea Lopez (Universidad Española de Educación a Distancia), Nicole McKay (The University of Auckland), Jessica Catherine McCormack (The University of Auckland), Rosalie Liu (The University of Auckland), Ian Kirk (The University of Auckland)
Abstract: The current study used MRI-derived diffusion imaging data (TBSS and seed-based tractography) to investigate whether there was a relationship between the type of intervention people diagnosed with ASD had previously received and their current brain connectivity. Twenty-five children and adolescents with ASD, with and without a history of parent-managed behavioral intervention, underwent an MRI scan with a diffusion data acquisition sequence. We conducted a region of interest analysis and tract-based spatial statistics. Significantly different fractional anisotropy values (believed to indicate white matter integrity) were found in the posterior corpus callosum of those exposed to parent-managed behavioral intervention relative to those who were not. The corpus callosum is the largest interhemispheric white matter bundle and callosal abnormalities have been previously found in people diagnosed with autism. The current case-control study paves the way for larger longitudinal randomized controlled trials. This area of research is critical to explore the possible clinical application of neuroimaging in measuring treatment efficacy in people diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and to establish the biological plausibility of behavioral interventions.
 
 
Special Event #210
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
Behavior Analysis in the Domain of Psychology
Sunday, May 24, 2020
8:00 AM–9:50 AM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 3, Ballroom AB
Domain: Theory
Chair: Peter R. Killeen (Arizona State University)
CE Instructor: Peter R. Killeen, Ph.D.
Panelists: ANTHONY BIGLAN (Oregon Research Institute), MICHAEL DOUGHER (University of New Mexico), ALAN KAZDIN (Yale University), MARK MATTAINI (Jane Addams College of Social Work-University of Illinois at Chicago), DEREK REED (University of Kansas), SUSAN SCHNEIDER (Root Solutions)
Abstract:

Whereas behavior analysts take due pride in the unique characteristics that distinguish us from mainstream psychology, those characteristics also distance us from psychology, cheating us of attention, recognition, support, and employment opportunities. Is it possible to remain true to our behavioral tenets, while improving our communication and presence in the larger intellectual community? If so, how do we go about it? We are fortunate to have Dr. Alan E. Kazdin, an early pioneer of behavior modification and expert in single case (N of 1) research designs in clinical and applied settings. He has succeeded in what we aspire to do--formulating and validating empirically grounded behavioral interventions, in particular for children and teenagers. He has been embraced by psychologists in general, having served as the president of APA and winning the APA gold medal for lifetime achievement. He also has a significant public audience (e.g. https://slate.com/author/alan-kazdin; https://time.com/author/alan-kazdin/ and https://amzn.to/2NiAp4c ). In this panel he will discuss with leaders in our field his thoughts about ways in which we can advance our agenda, and regain a seat at the table of empirically-based behavioral psychology writ large.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

ANTHONY BIGLAN (Oregon Research Institute)
Anthony Biglan, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist at Oregon Research Institute. He is the author of The Nurture Effect: How the Science of Human Behavior Can Improve our Lives and Our World.   Dr. Biglan has been conducting research on the development and prevention of child and adolescent problem behavior for the past 30 years. His work has included studies of the risk and protective factors associated with tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use; high-risk sexual behavior; and antisocial behavior. He has conducted numerous experimental evaluations of interventions to prevent tobacco use both through school-based programs and community-wide interventions. And, he has evaluated interventions to prevent high-risk sexual behavior, antisocial behavior, and reading failure.   In recent years, his work has shifted to more comprehensive interventions that have the potential to prevent the entire range of child and adolescent problems. He and colleagues at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences published a book summarizing the epidemiology, cost, etiology, prevention, and treatment of youth with multiple problems (Biglan et al., 2004). He is a former president of the Society for Prevention Research. He was a member of the Institute of Medicine Committee on Prevention, which released its report in 2009 documenting numerous evidence-based preventive interventions that can prevent multiple problems. As a member of Oregon’s Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission, he is helping to develop a strategic plan for implementing comprehensive evidence-based interventions throughout Oregon.
MICHAEL DOUGHER (University of New Mexico)
Dr. Michael J. Dougher is professor of psychology at the University of New Mexico, which is but the tip of the iceberg when it comes to describing the breadth and crosscurrents of teaching, research, and service in his distinguished career. Trained at the University of Illinois, Chicago as a clinical psychologist, his career exemplifies the scientist-practitioner model of that discipline. He has published widely on the analysis and treatment of such clinical problems as pain, depression, and addictive behavior. His research, however, has extended far beyond the traditional boundaries of clinical psychology. He has brought creative basic analyses of verbal behavior and stimulus equivalence to bear on the understanding of not only the origins of clinical syndromes, but also new possible lines of approaches to their treatment. These complementary analyses of basic and applied research earned him the APA Division 25 Don Hake Award. Along these same lines, it is telling to note that Dr. Dougher served concurrently on ABAI's Practice Board and as the experimental representative to its executive council. His record of service also includes terms as president of ABAI and APA's Division 25, and on numerous boards and task forces related to professional issues in psychology. On these boards and task forces, he consistently has been a strong, thoughtful, and diplomatic representative of a behavior analytic perspective.   These same adjectives characterize his editorial contributions to behavior analysis, as editor of The Behavior Analyst, associate editor of the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, and as a member of the editorial boards of six other journals. In addition, Dr. Dougher has provided equally exceptional service to his students and university. This mentor of 25 doctoral students has received several teaching awards, including being named the University of New Mexico Teacher of the Year in 1995. Prior to his present appointment, he served as the department's director of clinical training and also department chair, then associate dean for research in the College of Arts and Sciences, and thereafter as the University of New Mexico's associate vice-president for research.
ALAN KAZDIN (Yale University)
Alan E. Kazdin. Ph.D., ABPP, is Sterling Professor of Psychology and Child Psychiatry (Emeritus) at Yale University. Before coming to Yale, he was on the faculty of The Pennsylvania State University and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. At Yale, he has been Director of the Yale Parenting Center, Chairman of the Psychology Department, Director and Chairman of the Yale Child Study Center at the School of Medicine, Director of Child Psychiatric Services at Yale-New Haven Hospital.   Kazdin’s research has focused primarily on the treatment of aggressive and antisocial behavior in children and adolescents. His 750+ publications include 50 books that focus on methodology and research design, interventions for children and adolescents, behavioral and cognitive-behavioral treatment, parenting and child rearing, and interpersonal violence. His work on parenting and childrearing has been featured on NPR, PBS, BBC, and CNN and he has appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, ABC News, 20/20, and Dr. Phil. For parents, he has a free online course (Coursera), Everyday Parenting: The ABCs of Child Rearing (ABCs = Antecedents, Behaviors, Consequences).   Kazdin has been editor of six professional journals (Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Psychological Assessment, Behavior Therapy, Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice Current Directions in Psychological Science, and Clinical Psychological Science). He has received a number of professional awards including the Outstanding Research Contribution by an Individual Award and Lifetime Achievement Award (Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies), Outstanding Lifetime Contributions to Psychology Award and Distinguished Scientific Award for the Applications of Psychology (American Psychological Association), the James McKeen Cattell Award (Association for Psychological Science), and the Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in the Science of Psychology (American Psychological Foundation). In 2008, he was president of the American Psychological Association.
MARK MATTAINI (Jane Addams College of Social Work-University of Illinois at Chicago)
Mark Mattaini, DSW, ACSW, holds an emeritus appointment at Jane Addams College of Social Work, University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), where he was previously director of the doctoral program. He has developed, implemented, and researched behavioral strategies for individual, family, organizational, community and policy level interventions in the US, Canada, and Latin America, increasingly emphasizing advocacy, accompaniment, and activism in recent years. Consistent with that emphasis, his recent scholarship has focused on nonviolent action supporting social justice, and behavioral systems science at the cultural level. He is a research affiliate of the UIC Center for Research on Violence, and has chaired 25 dissertations related to responses to social issues. Most of his Ph.D. graduates are engaged in research and practice with marginalized populations, including those victimized by—and perpetrating—violence, and in developing evidence-guided supports for young people experiencing homelessness and social exclusion. Dr. Mattaini is author or editor of 13 books, two of the most recent being Strategic Nonviolent Power: The Science of Satyagraha, and Leadership for Cultural Change: Managing Future Well-Being, as well as numerous other publications. Editor of the interdisciplinary journal Behavior and Social Issues, Dr. Mattaini has served on the editorial boards of multiple journals in behavior analysis and social work. ABAI Convention Program Board Coordinator from 2013-2017, he has also been a long-time member of the Board of Planners for Behaviorists for Social Responsibility, the oldest ABAI SIG.
DEREK REED (University of Kansas)
Dr. Derek Reed is an Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Behavioral Science at the University of Kansas where he directs the Applied Behavioral Economics Laboratory. Derek received his Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Illinois State University and his Masters and Ph.D. in School Psychology from Syracuse University. He has served as Associate Editor for Behavior Analysis in Practice and The Psychological Record, and guest Associate Editor for The Behavior Analyst, Journal of Behavioral Education, and Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. He serves as a reviewer on the editorial boards of The Behavior Analyst, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, and Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. Derek has published over 80 peer reviewed papers and book chapters, coauthored three edited books, and was the 2016 recipient of the American Psychological Association Division 25 B. F. Skinner Foundation New Applied Researcher Award. He is presently working on a new textbook titled “Introduction to Behavior Analysis” with his coauthors Greg Madden and Mark Reilly. Derek recently served on the ABAI Science Board and is presently the Executive Director of the Society for the Quantitative Analyses of Behavior. Derek's research translates the behavioral economics of addiction to understanding ultraviolet indoor tanning dependence in college populations.
SUSAN SCHNEIDER (Root Solutions)
Dr. Susan M. Schneider’s involvement in behavior analysis goes back to high school when she read Beyond Freedom & Dignity and wrote B. F. Skinner, never dreaming that he would reply. They corresponded throughout her master’s degree in mechanical engineering at Brown University, her engineering career, and her stint in the Peace Corps. At that point, Schneider bowed to the inevitable and switched careers, obtaining her Ph.D. in developmental psychology in 1989 from the University of Kansas. A research pioneer, she was the first to apply the generalized matching law to sequences and to demonstrate operant generalization and matching in neonates. Her publications also cover the history and philosophy of behavior analysis and the neglected method of sequential analysis. Schneider has championed the inclusive “developmental systems” approach to nature nurture relations, culminating in reviews in the Journal of Experimental Analysis of Behavior and The Behavior Analyst, and she has served on the editorial boards for both of those journals. Her book, The Science of Consequences: How They Affect Genes, Change the Brain, and Impact Our World, summarizes the field of operant behavior, its larger nature-nurture context, and its full range of applications. It earned a mention in the journal Nature, was a selection of the Scientific American Book Club, and won the 2015 Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis Award for Effective Presentation of Behavior Analysis in the Mass Media.
 
 
Invited Paper Session #235
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
Multiple Exemplar Training: Illustrations, Limitations, and Preliminary Guidelines
Sunday, May 24, 2020
10:00 AM–10:50 AM
Marriott Marquis, Level M2, Marquis Ballroom 6
Area: PCH; Domain: Theory
Chair: David C. Palmer (Smith College)
CE Instructor: Per Holth, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: PER HOLTH (OsloMet -- Oslo Metropolitan University)
Abstract:

Through a set of exemplars that sample the range of stimulus and response topographies, multiple exemplar training aims to produce the full range of performances. The principle has been widely acknowledged and used in experimental psychology, in the experimental analysis of behavior, and in behavior-analytic applications. Behavior analysts have often referred to a history of multiple exemplar training to account for different generalized performances. Examples of such generalized performances are abstraction and concept learning, responding to relations, identity matching, rule following, behavioral variability, responding to wh-questions, describing past events, learning sets, and continuous repertoires. There is convincing evidence for the usefulness of multiple exemplar training with respect to many types of performances, even performances that involve relations between objects or events. Yet, there appear to be at least two important exceptions, where direct multiple exemplar training does not work well: (1) when there are no physical dimensions at all along which generalized performances can emerge, and (2) when the relation between antecedents and an effective response is complex. General limitations of multiple exemplar training as well as an interpretation of exceptions in terms of behavior-mediated generalization are discussed. Guidelines for more effective training for generalized skills are outlined.

Instruction Level: Basic
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation participants will be able to: (1) describe different procedures that have been named ‘multiple exemplar training’; (2) describe at least five different behavioral phenomena that require some kind of multiple exemplar training; (3) specify some limits to what can result from direct multiple exemplar training.
 
PER HOLTH (OsloMet -- Oslo Metropolitan University)
Professor Per Holth received his license to practice psychology in 1983, and his Ph.D. in 2000, with a dissertation on the generality of stimulus equivalence. His clinical work has been in services for people with autism and developmental disabilities, in psychiatric units, and in the military services. His research activities span basic research, on stimulus equivalence and joint attention, as well as applied work and management of large research projects. Per Holth has taught classes in behavior analysis and learning principles at the University of Oslo and Oslo and Akershus University College (OAUC) since 1982, and joined the faculty of OAUC and the Program for learning in complex systems, as an associate professor in 2004 and as full professor in 2006. He teaches classes in all behavior-analytic education programs at OAUC. He has written for peer-reviewed publications on basic research, applied work, and philosophy of science; served on several editorial boards; and he has a member of the editorial troika of the European Journal of Behavior Analysis for 15 years. He has been a program co-coordinator of the TPC area of ABAI, is currently a program co-coordinator for the development area, and he is on the board of directors of the B. F. Skinner Foundation. His current research interests have drifted in the direction of basic experimental work with animals and humans.
 
 
Invited Tutorial #237
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
Realizing the Potential of Applied Behavior Analysis to Improve Outcomes in Adolescents and Young Adults With Autism
Sunday, May 24, 2020
10:00 AM–10:50 AM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 2, Room 207A
Area: PRA; Domain: Theory
PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP CE Offered. CE Instructor: Peter Gerhardt, Ed.D.
Chair: Bobby Newman (Proud Moments)
Presenting Authors: : PETER GERHARDT (The EPIC School)
Abstract:

In their seminal article, Baer, Wolf and Risley (1968), stated that behavior analytic intervention is expected to result in strong, socially important, and generalizable behavior change which, in this case, should mean more positive adult outcomes in ASD. Unfortunately, despite a nearly three decade-long emphasis on evidence-based, behavior analytic intervention in ASD, adult outcomes remain poor “for almost any outcome you choose.” (Roux, et al, 2015, p. 8). While there may be several reasons for continued poor outcomes (including the challenge of simply defining “good outcome”), the potential of behavior analytic intervention to develop more positive adult outcomes has yet to be fully realized. Such outcomes, however, are well within the reach of our behavior analytic technology. But to do that, the contingencies governing our behavior will, most likely, need to shift. For example, we will need to shift from contingencies that reinforce the technical precision of our classroom-based interventions to contingencies the reinforce the somewhat less technical precision of community-based intervention (assuming the target has a fair degree of social validity). This tutorial will identify a number areas, both internal and external to the field, where a “contingency shift” may be necessary if the power of behavior analytic intervention to significantly improve outcomes for adults with autism is to be more fully realized.

Instruction Level: Basic
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: PENDING.
 
PETER GERHARDT (The EPIC School)
Peter Gerhardt, Ed.D., is the Executive Director of the EPIC School in Paramus, NJ. Dr. Gerhardt has nearly 40 years of experience utilizing the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis in support of adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorders in educational, employment, residential and community-based settings. He is the author or co-author on a number of articles and book chapters on the needs of adolescents and adults with ASD and has presented nationally and internationally on this topic. Dr. Gerhardt serves as Co-Chairman of the Scientific Council for the Organization for Autism Research and is on numerous professional advisory boards including the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies. He received his doctorate from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey’s Graduate School of Education.
 
 
B. F. Skinner Lecture Series Paper Session #238
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
Keys to School Success: Bridging the Outcomes of the Boehm Test of Basic Concepts-3 (BTBC-3) to Language Development
Sunday, May 24, 2020
10:00 AM–10:50 AM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 3, Ballroom AB
Area: TBA; Domain: Applied Research
Chair: Lin Du (Teachers College, Columbia University)
CE Instructor: Lin Du, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: ANN BOEHM (Teachers College, Columbia University)
Abstract:

The session will cover the long history of how the outcomes of the BTBC-3 inform intervention and instruction for young children’s language development and success in school. The issues covered are of particular relevance for children on the ASD spectrum. Recent research using the Boehm Test of Basic Concepts-3: Preschool in a behaviorally-based preschool program has identified bi-directional naming as a key factor in the progression of learning, an issue to be explored in the session. The importance of relational concepts as measured by the BTBC for learning across all areas of learning, following directions and more complex problem solving will be presented along with strategies for intervention.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) highlight the history of the BTBC and its role in language development; (2) provide a guide for developing instructional activities at increasing levels of difficulty; (3) review recent research with students with special needs (ASD, visually impaired, deaf and hard of hearing, and individuals with cognitive impairment).
 
ANN BOEHM (Teachers College, Columbia University)

Ann E. Boehm, Ph.D. is professor emerita of psychology and education at Teachers College, Columbia University where she continues to teach a course on early childhood assessment. She is the author of the Boehm Test of Basic Concepts (BTBC) which was the outcome of her dissertation and was seminal in identifying basic relational concepts as an important aspect of language development and essential for success across all areas of school learning. The test, now in in its third edition, consists of a preschool level (ages 3-5) and a school age level (ages 5-7). Outcomes of the test are helpful for identifying learning objectives and monitoring progress, The BTBC-3 is one of the few instruments available at these age levels in raised form and big picture versions for the blind and visually impaired (through the American Printing House for the Blind). She is the author of numerous books and articles. Her current research interests focus on the next version of the BTBC, direction following, intervention activities, and work with students on the ASD spectrum.

 
 
Invited Paper Session #260
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
Relational Skills Training for Enhancing Intelligence: The Science of Destabilizing Stable Traits
Sunday, May 24, 2020
11:00 AM–11:50 AM
Marriott Marquis, Level M2, Marquis Ballroom 6
Domain: Applied Research
Chair: Jonathan J. Tarbox (University of Southern California; FirstSteps for Kids)
CE Instructor: Jonathan J. Tarbox, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: BRYAN ROCHE (National University of Ireland, Maynooth)
Abstract:

Part of the mission of radical behaviorism is to increase control over behavioral variability in all domains of human activity, and perhaps especially those in which activity is seen as constrained by invariant traits. One such “invariant trait” is intelligence, a concept long understood to represent a mentalism. However, it is only recently that behavior analysts have made progress in providing a functional-analytic model of intelligence that was sufficiently progressive to produce targeted interventions that can increase intellectual skill fluency to the point where large and reliable gains are observable on standardised tests of intelligence. In this talk Dr. Bryan Roche of Maynooth University, Ireland, will outline the rationale behind one such intervention method, known as SMART training (Strengthening Mental Abilities with Relational Training), which has emerged from a Relational Frame Theory account of derived stimulus relations. The talk will also outline evidence of the positive effects on intellectual functioning of the SMART intervention, and argue that for pragmatic, ethical, and now empirical reasons, psychologists’ traditional conceptualization of intelligence needs to be revised.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students. 

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) define a derived stimulus relation and outline the usual laboratory procedures for generating them; (2) describe the main differences between a stimulus equivalence and a Relational Frame Theory account of derived stimulus relations; (3) provide and generate their own examples of common IQ test items that clearly assess a small set of relational framing skills; (4) discuss the relevance of relational skill fluency to everyday intellectual skill proficiency; (5) interpret findings from several studies that have claimed to increase IQ scores using relational skills training interventions.
 
BRYAN ROCHE (National University of Ireland, Maynooth)
Dr. Bryan Roche has been a member of academic staff at MU since 2000.  His early work was on the development of Relational Frame Theory, a post-Skinnerian account of human language and cognition, the first text for which has been cited over 1000 times in the academic literature.  He is author of over 100 peer reviewed papers and book chapters.  Dr. Roche has developed an online intervention, based on Relational Frame Theory, that is the only intervention currently known by psychologists to increase IQ by clinically significant degrees (around 15 points) for many or most users.  This method is known as SMART (Strengthening Mental Abilities with Relational Training), and is offered online by the MU campus company RaiseYourIQ.com of which Dr. Roche is a co-director.  Dr. Roche also conducts research into fear and avoidance as part of wider interest in anxiety, and has developed a new implicit test, built from first learning principles, called the FAST (Function Acquisition Speed Test), also available online as a test and in modified form as a therapeutic intervention to  enhance psychological flexibility in the context of troubling emotional issues. 
 
 
Invited Paper Session #262
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
Systemic Behavior Analysis: A Therapeutic Approach for Optimizing Best Practices for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Their Families
Sunday, May 24, 2020
11:00 AM–11:50 AM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 2, Room 207A
Area: PRA; Domain: Theory
Chair: Bobby Newman (Proud Moments)
CE Instructor: Angeliki Gena, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: ANGELIKI GENA (University of Athens, Greece)
Abstract:

This presentation will address the question of effective practices for the treatment of individuals with autism spectrum disorder, from both an epistemological and a therapeutic perspective, and suggest the importance of a synthesis of two paradigms—behavior analysis and general systems theory—as a means of optimizing our assessment of the needs and the services provided to people with disabilities. Despite the development and the use of a wide array of behavior analytic practices that help all children with ASD to reach their full potential, a question that remains under-researched has to do with the effort expected from the child and his/her family and whether this effort can be somehow lessened without compromising the benefits. The answer to that question led to investigating the properties of another epistemological paradigm—general systems theory—its merits, its compatibility, and its complementarity to the discipline of behavior analysis. This presentation aims to demonstrate that the two paradigms are compatible and complementary and that their combination may lead to optimizing the therapeutic and pedagogical outcomes of behavior analytic practices. If we are to adapt a systemic perspective, according to which the joining of two or more systems leads to an outcome that exceeds by far the additive effects of those systems, it will be interesting to assess the potential emergent benefits of the synthesis of two compatible and complementary epistemological paradigms and how those translate into therapeutic outcomes.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Researchers and therapists in the field of autism spectrum disorder.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation the participants will be able to: (1) utilize the main principles of Systemic Behavior Analysis to evaluate a treatment program for people with ASD; (2) assess whether the breath of a Systemic Behavior Analytic treatment program is feasible and appropriate for the population of people with ASD of his/her interest; (3) plan for changes in the development of a behavior analytic intervention that incorporate systemic elements.
 
ANGELIKI GENA (University of Athens, Greece)

Angeliki Gena is Professor at the School of Philosophy, Department of Philosopsy-Pedagogy-Psychology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece (EKPA). She received her BA in Psychology and Sociology, her Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology and her Ph.D. from the “Learning Processes” program of the Psychology Department of the City University of New York. She conducted her Doctoral Dissertation at the Princeton Child Development Institute, in Princeton, New Jersey. She worked in various institutes in the USA and became the director of the Alpine Learning Group, a prominent center for children with autism in Alpine, New Jersey. She also taught as an adjunct professor at the City University of New York. In Greece she started her teaching career at the University of Thessaly, was elected at the University of the Aegean, and since 1998 teaches at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Her research is predominantly in the area of Behavior Analysis and its applications for early intervention in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Was general secretary of the Association of Behavioral Research for 11 years, is an associate of the Institute of Behavioral Research and Therapy, and a founding member and current president of the Institute of Systemic Behavior Analysis. She has served as an elected member of the Senate of EKPA, since 2016 she is a member of the board of trustees of IKY – National Organization of Scholarships, Greece – has been appointed to national committees of the Greek Ministry of Education, and has served on the board of various non-for-profit organizations. She has received several scholarships and awards for distinguished research and clinical practices addressing children with autism and grands from the European Commission and various Greek organizations. She has published numerous books, empirical and theoretical articles in peer-reviewed journals, as well as book chapters. The main focus of her research is in systemic behavior analysis and its applications for children with ASD and their families.  

 
 
Symposium #264
CE Offered: BACB/QABA/NASP — 
Supervision
Training Caregivers, Part I: Working With Young Children
Sunday, May 24, 2020
11:00 AM–12:50 PM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 2, Room 202B
Area: AUT/DDA; Domain: Translational
Chair: Peter Sturmey (The Graduate Center and Queens College, City University of New York)
Discussant: Gina Feliciano (Quality Services for the Autism Community (QSAC))
CE Instructor: Peter Sturmey, Ph.D.
Abstract:

Training caregivers to apply evidence-based Applied Behavior Analysis is an essential component of professional work and a key component of effective services. Research over the last 30 years has demonstrated the effectiveness, efficiency and acceptability of Behavioral Skills Training (BST) to teach skills, promote generalization of teaching skills and sometimes produce important changes in child behavior. As research in this area becomes more differentiated, one important aspect has been the application of BST to young children, including training family members and staff in integrated settings. This workshop will present three papers on applying BST to train parents of a child at risk for Autism Spectrum Disorders via telehealth, training parents to teach joint attention skills to their children, and training special education teachers to improve the integrity of function-based interventions to increase child classroom engagement. These studies demonstrate that BST can readily be extended to working with caregivers of young children with disabilities, improve caregiver behavior and produce socially important changes in child behavior.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Keyword(s): BST, joint attention, pyramidal training, young children
Target Audience:

Masters and doctoral level practitioners; advanced graduate students; psychologists; service supervisors;

Learning Objectives: Participants will (1) describe the application of behavioral skills training to family members; (2) describe the application of behavioral skills training to varied young children; (3) describe child outcomes of training caregivers.
 
Parent-Mediated Targeted Intervention via Telehealth for a Young Child At-Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder
(Applied Research)
ALICIA AZZANO (Brock University), Rebecca A. Ward (Phoenix Centre for Learning), Tricia Corinne Vause (Brock University), Maurice Feldman (Dept. of Applied Disability Studies, Brock University)
Abstract: Some early screeners can detect ASD signs in the first year of life (Feldman et al., 2012), opening the potential for pre-diagnostic early intervention. With the growing body of research demonstrating the feasibility of using a telehealth model to provide parent training of behavior analytic teaching strategies to parents of children with ASD (Lindgren et al., 2016), more research is needed to explore the efficacy of this model and early intervention in general for parents who have pre-diagnostic young children at-risk for ASD. In this current study, parents of one child aged 30 months first identified potential target problem behaviors on the Parent Observation of Early Markers Scale (POEMS; Feldman et al., 2012) that were confirmed during baseline observations. All observations occurred through videoconferencing once a week for one hour. A multiple baseline design across parent and child behaviors was used to evaluate a parent-mediated behavioral intervention to increase target developmental skills (pointing to request, verbal manding, motor imitation) using the telehealth model. Both parents participated in training. Data was collected for the percentage of correct responses from contrived trials for each child behavior, and for the percentage of correct parent teaching implementation according to the Parent Teaching Skills Checklist. Child skill teaching strategies taught to the parents included components of applied behavior analysis and natural environment teaching (Weiss, 2001). Parent training consisted of a modified behavioral skills training to accommodate the telehealth model (read and discuss written instructions, watch pre-made model videos, coach the parents to rehearse the teaching strategies with each other, and give feedback). As seen in Table 1, parent training increased parent teaching skills that maintained at over 80% teaching fidelity for both parents, with concomitant increases in child target skills (motor imitation is currently is training, accounting for the empty bottom row in Table 1). These results highlight the promise of a cost-effective telehealth parent training early intervention model to reduce early ASD signs in at-risk young children.
 

Parent and Sibling Training to Increase Joint Attention Behavior in Young Children With Developmental Disabilities

(Applied Research)
SARAH GRACE HANSEN (Georgia State University), Tracy Jane Raulston (Penn State), Jessica Demarco (Georgia State University), Hannah Etchison (Georgia State University)
Abstract:

Children with developmental disabilities are at increased risk for social communication deficits, including early and pivotal social communication skills. One such skill, response to joint attention, is a behavioral cusp for later developing social communication and play. Joint attention is coordinated shared attention between two individuals and an object or event. The current study investigated the effects of a train-the-trainer approach where parents were trained to teach siblings to be proficient interventionists on the response to joint attention behavior of their siblings with developmental disabilities. Results indicate an increase in parent task fidelity following a modified behavior skills training procedure during home visits, as well as an increase in sibling task fidelity following parent training using a social narrative and prompting procedure. Target child data indicate an increase in level of response to joint attention behavior following parent training and parent training of sibling. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

 

The Effects of a Teacher’s Behavior Skills Training in Strategies for Students With Exceptionalities in a General Education Classroom

(Applied Research)
Dustin Platter (Hawaii Department of Education), JENNIFER NINCI (University of Hawaii at Manoa), Shari Daisy (University of Nevada, Reno)
Abstract:

Special education teachers are often implementers of behavior intervention plans; however, a shortage of teachers in any field is only magnified in special education. Studies have looked at the use of behavior skills training (BST) in training teachers and caregivers in the intervention techniques prescribed for individuals and groups. This study extends research on teacher training using the BST model. This study was also designed to evaluate the relation between teacher integrity to a functional assessment-based interventions (FABI) suite of strategies and the effect on student on-task performance. The participants were a special education teacher and two elementary-aged students, each classified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The students engaged in off-task, often disruptive behavior while receiving special education services in a general education classroom. This study was conducted in three phases. Each phase consisted of BST to teach a subset of interventions. A single-subject changing criterion design was used to evaluate the effect of BST on teacher integrity and student performance. Results showed that BST improved teacher integrity through each phase and teacher integrity improved student on-task behavior. Limitations to this study will be discussed as well as directions for future research.

 

Evaluation of a Caregiver Training Intervention to Teach Safety Skills to Children With Autism

(Applied Research)
SARAH DAVIS (Brock University), Sarah Kupferschmidt (ONTABA), Kendra Thomson (Brock University ), Carly Magnacca (Brock University)
Abstract:

Alarmingly, nearly half of children with autism elope or bolt, and more than half of these children go missing for a concerning duration of time and/or enter into dangerous situations. Caregivers often do not feel prepared to address these serious concerns. This study evaluated the effectiveness of behavioural skills training (BST) for teaching caregivers how to also use BST in conjunction with a tactile prompt to teach their children with autism help-seeking behaviour. Participants included a total of six dyads, caregivers and their children with autism ages 5-10. We used a concurrent multiple baseline design across two dyads with three replications. The children’s safety responses were measured using a point system: (1) calling out for their caregiver in a louder than conversational voice, (2) locating a store employee, and (3) informing the employee that he/she was lost. Results indicate that four children met mastery criteria (a safety score of 3 across two consecutive trials), and the caregivers were able to successfully fade the tactile prompting device. Data collection with the final two dyads is currently in progress. This study contributes to the limited empirical research on caregiver training using BST to teach help-seeking behaviour to children with autism.

 
 
Symposium #266
CE Offered: BACB/QABA/NASP
Social Reinforcement: Basic Findings and Applications
Sunday, May 24, 2020
11:00 AM–12:50 PM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 1, Salon B
Area: CBM/VBC; Domain: Translational
Chair: Cory Stanton (University of Nevada, Reno)
Discussant: William C. Follette (University of Nevada, Reno)
CE Instructor: Thomas J. Waltz, Ph.D.
Abstract:

Humans are a eusocial species, especially sensitive to social contingencies. This sensitivity is observed at the earliest stages of development and persists throughout the lifespan, even in the presence of late-life neurodegenerative impairments. While social reinforcers are the most common reinforcers utilized in clinical applications, the behavior analytic literature is relatively sparse in its analysis of the quality of these reinforcers as they naturally occur and vary in a wide variety of interactions. This symposium will address social reinforcers from multiple vantage points: a review of the experimental analysis of social behavior, thought-provoking observations of parent-child interactions during acquisition of verbal skills, social histories as confounds within applied work in behavioral gerontology, and the challenge to measure interpersonal repertoires and the effects of social contingencies in clinical behavior analysis. The goal of the symposium is to draw attention to the ubiquitous nature of social reinforcers and social histories, identify gaps in knowledge, and discuss areas of future exploration for experimental, applied, and clinical research.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Keyword(s): interpersonal repertoires, lifespan, social contingencies, social reinforcement
Target Audience:

Scientist practitioners, BCBA-Ds, BCBAs, BCaBAs

Learning Objectives: 1. Participants will be able to describe conjugate reinforcement in relation to early verbal behavior skills acquisition. 2. Participants will be able to describe 3 social repertoires in older adults that can compromise the validity of preference and functional assessments. 3. Participants will be able to describe how data from a self-report instrument can be used to guide subsequent in-session functional analyses of social behavior.
 
A Review of the Experimental Analysis of Social Reinforcement
(Theory)
CLAUDIA DROSSEL (Eastern Michigan University), Thomas J. Waltz (Eastern Michigan University)
Abstract: Aristotle termed humankind “zoon politicon,” pointing to socially interdependent and transactional lives and ongoing attempts to influence each others’ behavior. Despite the ubiquitous nature of social reinforcement, experimental studies of social reinforcement are relatively rare, or they rely on histories and require sophisticated verbal repertoires with limited actual social contact (e.g., studies of social discounting). Furthermore, analyses that consider social reinforcers often fail to capture the nuanced features of human interactions that determine differential preference. The current paper will review existing behavior analytic work in the area. Acknowledging that much applied work in behavior analysis focuses on interventions in autism spectrum disorders, defined by social deficits and potential lack of sensitivity to social contingencies, we will orient behavior analysts to methods and processes in the experimental analysis of behavior that could inform future laboratory as well as applied research.
 
Social Contingencies: From Language Acquisition to Skilled Social Interactions
(Theory)
THOMAS J. WALTZ (Eastern Michigan University), Claudia Drossel (Eastern Michigan University), Lauren Bauer (Gateway Pediatric Therapy), Tori Humiston (University of Nevada, Reno)
Abstract: Infants are immersed in rich social-verbal communities at the earliest moments of their development and the contingencies embedded in the interaction with these communities illustrate the key role social reinforcers play in language development. Variations in reinforcer intensity and quality are important components of the contingencies shaping ever sophisticated communicative repertoires in infants and young children. This presentation will provide a review of the research looking at the social contingencies embedded in early language development with typically developing children. The types of reinforcers and qualities of these caregiver social and instrumental responses will be summarized. For example, timing, tone, repetition, repetition with correction or expansion, and coordinated actions that are part of the coordinated caregiver social response can impact the quality of the learning trial. This literature will be contrasted with the assessment practices used to inform Early Intensive Behavioral Interventions for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and formal assessments of social pragmatic skills. Opportunities for improving the assessment of key dimensions of social contingencies will be discussed.
 
Social Contingencies Affect Standard Behavior-Analytic Methods
(Applied Research)
ZOE LUCOCK (Bangor University), Rebecca A Sharp (Bangor University)
Abstract: Many of the commonly-used behavioral methods in our field have been developed with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. As such, they may require adapting for older adults with dementia, who are likely to have different social learning histories. For example, whilst conducting standard behavior-analytic methods such as preference assessments and experimental functional analyses with adults with dementia, we encountered social contingencies that affected and interfered with the measurement of target behaviors. During preference assessments, our participants engaged in what we termed ‘polite verbal behaviors’ that impeded the selection of stimuli. For example, all seven participants asked what the researcher would like them to do with the stimulus they had selected, and 86% reported that they felt ‘greedy’ making selections between stimuli. Similarly, during an experimental functional analysis, we found that our participant made repeated comments relating to the stimulus conditions in place during ignore and attention conditions (e.g., “Why aren’t you talking to me- have I done something wrong?”). We discuss the importance for behavior analysts to be not only aware of social contingencies affecting their clinical work but also to engineer social contingencies in order that their results reflect responding under appropriate and meaningful stimulus conditions.
 
Preliminary Psychometric Properties of the FIAT-2: Updating a Behavioral Measure of Interpersonal Skills
(Applied Research)
CORY STANTON (University of Nevada, Reno), Brandon Sanford (University of Nevada, Reno), Jonathan Singer (University of Nevada, Reno), William C. Follette (University of Nevada, Reno)
Abstract: The Functional Idiographic Assessment Template system (FIAT; Callaghan, 2006) is a behavior analytic approach to understanding key elements of an interpersonal repertoire for typically developing adults. The FIAT has been employed in research on Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP: Kohlenberg & Tsai, 1991) to some success. FAP therapists emphasize observation of in-session behaviors in order to identify relevant interpersonal contingencies for client distress and well-being. In addition, self-report questionnaires can be useful in identifying relevant concerns with the client's social repertoire. A short-form self-report instrument, the FIAT-Q-SF (Darrow, Callaghan, Bonow, & Follette, 2014) has been developed and used in research, but questions remain about its psychometric properties. In study 1, two waves of undergraduate students (n1 = 640; n2 = 526) completed multiple measures including the FIAT-Q-SF. During study 2, we developed and tested a new pool of items with another wave of undergraduates (n = 320). Finally in study 3, we further examined its properties in an mTurk subject pool (n = 400). The tentatively dubbed FIAT-2’s properties will be compared to the original short form and implications for research and treatment will be discussed.
 
 
Invited Paper Session #277
CE Offered: BACB/QABA/NASP
Building Effective Teams: An Interdisciplinary Task
Sunday, May 24, 2020
12:00 PM–12:50 PM
Marriott Marquis, Level M4, Liberty I-L
Area: CSS; Domain: Basic Research
Chair: Thomas G. Szabo (Florida Institute of Technology)
CE Instructor: Thomas G. Szabo, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: NORA RANGEL (Universidad de Guadalajara, Mexico)
Abstract:

In terms of an interbehavioral point of view, Ribes (1990) proposed a conceptual formulation and a methodological approach to identify consistent modes of people interaction with different situations, distinguishing individuals. He suggested that these particular and idiosyncratic modes of interaction, denominated interactive styles, could be modulated by the imposed criteria in a particular situation. But it also seems feasible that the criteria compliance could be modulated by the individuals’ interactive style. While this asseveration has proved relevance in the context of individual task performance, we propose to transpose it to the teamwork level. Nowadays, most of the tasks demanded in educational, academic, and occupational contexts involve teamwork. However, teams do not always perform successfully even when members have the proper disciplinary knowledge and the required skills to achieve the assigned goal. In collaboration with Muñoz, Mejía, Peña & Torres, we conformed an interdisciplinary group interested in the identification of the factors that participate in the establishment of effective teams for software development. The result has been a model in which, besides the disciplinary knowledge and individual skills to achieve products of high quality, it is necessary to take into account the way in which each individual faces situations and how these interactive styles complement with the others. Additionally, we have considered that this model could be applied in other areas.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Students and people interested in building effective teams in applied contexts.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) describe the three elements that conform the model for building effective teams; (2) list possible areas in which the proposed model can be applied; (3) list the advantages of using the concept of interactive style to refer to the consistent and idiosyncratic modes of an individual's interaction; (4) describe how this interactive styles could be affecting the interactions among the members of a team.
 
NORA RANGEL (Universidad de Guadalajara, Mexico)
Nora Rangel is a Research Professor at the Centro de Estudios e Investigaciones en Comportamiento (CEIC) at the University of Guadalajara since 2003. She received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente, a master’s degree and a doctor’s degree in Behavioral Sciences from University of Guadalajara, México in 2003 and 2008 respectively. From 2006 she joined as a teacher in the program of Behavioral Science at the University of Guadalajara. She has published a book, several chapters and research articles in national and international indexed journals, and she has presented her work in national and international forums. She is a member of the Mexican System of Researchers (SNI) since 2009, and her interests are the experimental analysis of social behavior and recently, the establishment of high-quality teams.
 
 
Invited Paper Session #286
CE Offered: BACB/PSY/QABA
Don Baer Lecture: Gains and Losses on the Balance Sheet: ABA 1964–2020
Sunday, May 24, 2020
12:00 PM–12:50 PM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 3, Ballroom AB
Area: PRA; Domain: Service Delivery
Chair: Shahla Susan Ala'i (University of North Texas)
CE Instructor: Sigrid Glenn, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: SIGRID GLENN (University of North Texas)
Abstract:

One might say that the treatment that launched applied behavior analysis began with a commitment to help little Dicky, a 3 ½ year old boy with autism (Wolf, Risley & Mees, 1964). The treatment was an amazing story of a successful marriage of science and clinical wisdom. Now, over 50 years later, it is evident that applied behavior analysis has both expanded and shrunk. Expansion is seen in the 2018 Annual Report of the Behavior Analysis Certification Board: 35,286 professionals certified to practice behavior analysis and 51,507 technicians registered to assist them. Most of the recipients of these practices are children and adults with autism and developmental disabilities. Among the costs of taking behavior analysis to scale has been the shrinking of what it means to be an applied behavior analyst. Both science and clinical wisdom seem to have moved to the margins and other considerations have taken center stage. We will examine some of the changes that appear to have occurred, including ossification of protocols, training and supervision in decontextualized environments, and a focus on structural rather than functional approaches to treatment. We will also examine what appears to be a misunderstanding or misapplication of what constitutes evidence-based practice. Finally, we will consider contingencies at work in the current culture that may account for many of these changes; and we will offer some observations on how the field might recapture what has been lost as it continues moving forward.

Instruction Level: Basic
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: PENDING
 
SIGRID GLENN (University of North Texas)
Sigrid Glenn is Regents Professor Emeritus at the University of North Texas.  She was the founding chair of UNT’s Department of Behavior Analysis and the founder and former director of UNT’s Behavior Analysis Online program. Her published research includes work in conceptual, experimental and applied areas; current interests are primarily conceptual and philosophical, especially as these pertain to culturo-behavioral systems. Dr. Glenn is past president of ABAI and a founding fellow of the Association. She was the 2015 recipient of the Award for Distinguished Service to Behavior Analysis. Other awards include TxABA Award for Career Contributions to Behavior Analysis in Texas; CalABA’s Award for Outstanding Contributions to Behavior Analysis; the Michael Hemingway Award for Advancement of Behavior Analysis; the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies Ellen P. Reese Award in Recognition for Significant Contributions to Communication of Behavioral Concepts; and--most important to her--the ABAI 2008 Student Committee Award for Outstanding Mentorship of students.
 
 
Invited Paper Session #311
CE Offered: BACB/QABA
A Dog’s Life: Using Behavior Analysis to Investigate the Human-Dog Relationship and Address Behavioral Issues
Sunday, May 24, 2020
3:00 PM–3:50 PM
Marriott Marquis, Level M2, Marquis Ballroom 6
Area: AAB; Domain: Applied Research
Chair: Nathaniel Hall (Texas Tech University)
CE Instructor: Erica Feuerbacher, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: ERICA FEUERBACHER (Virginia Tech)
Abstract:

Dogs are described as “man’s best friend” and dog ownership is at an all-time high. Nevertheless, the nature of the human-dog bond has only recently been explored and much work in this field focuses on the structure of the relationship. While this might describe what the relationship looks like, it does not address what maintains the relationship nor does it identify the variables we can manipulate to produce, maintain, or enhance that relationship. Taking a behavior analytic approach, our research has sought to identify the functions maintaining human-dog interactions from the dog’s perspective. This talk will highlight our work investigating dogs’ preference for different human interactions, what stimuli typically function as reinforcers for dog behavior, and how we can use those to address behavioral issues, such as separation-related problem behavior in owned dogs and kennel reactivity in shelter dogs. Audience members will learn about the current state of knowledge of dog social behavior, how behavioral science can help enhance the human-dog relationship by taking the dogs’ perspective through preference and reinforcer efficacy tests, and how that knowledge can be applied to solve common behavioral issues in companion and shelter dogs.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts, applied animal behaviorists, graduate students, dog owners and enthusiasts.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) identify typically preferred human interaction in dogs, and the effect of population, context, and familiarity on preference; (2) identify common, effective reinforcers in dogs; (3) discuss how a behavior analytic approach to the human-dog relationship can help us enhance it; (4) discuss how identifying effective reinforcers is essential for addressing behavioral concerns in domestic dogs.
 
ERICA FEUERBACHER (Virginia Tech)

Dr. Feuerbacher is an Assistant Professor of Companion Animal Behavior and Welfare at Virginia Tech and director of the Applied Animal Behavior & Welfare Lab in the Department of Animal & Poultry Science. She earned her Ph.D. in Psychology at the University of Florida in the UF Canine Cognition and Behavior Lab and her Masters in Behavior Analysis at the University of North Texas in the Organization for Reinforcement Contingencies with Animals. Prior to joining Virginia Tech, she was an Assistant Professor at Carroll College in Helena, MT, where she led the canine program in which students trained foster dogs during the academic year. She has worked as a shelter behavior consultant, offered group dog training classes and private behavior consultations, and is co-founder of the Shelter Dog Institute. She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and a Certified Professional Dog Trainer. Her research at Virginia Tech focuses on understanding dog behavior and learning from a behavior analytic perspective, using applied behavior analysis to solve behavioral issues, and identifying interventions that improve shelter dog welfare. She has earned several awards for her behavior analytic research and her dedication to the theoretical foundations of behavior analysis. She is passionate about humane, effective animal training, and working with owners, trainers, and shelter staff to improve our interactions with animals through behavior analysis.

 
 
B. F. Skinner Lecture Series Paper Session #324
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
How Children Learn Early Communicative Gestures
Sunday, May 24, 2020
3:00 PM–3:50 PM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 2, Room 207A
Area: VBC; Domain: Applied Research
Chair: Einar T. Ingvarsson (Virginia Institute of Autism)
CE Instructor: Einar T. Ingvarsson, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: ELENA NICOLADIS (University of Alberta)
Abstract:

Children can communicate through gestures (like pick-me-up or pointing) even before they begin to speak. Some gestures likely develop through social learning (like waving hello). Researchers have argued that other early gestures, like the pick-me-up gesture, cannot be learned through social learning (since adults do not gesture to be picked up). They have therefore proposed that these gestures are learned through ontogenetic ritualization, a kind of learning that critically involves role and dyad specificity. Ontogenetic ritualization is thought to differ from operant conditioning. In this presentation, on the basis of videotaped interactions between parents and children between six and twelve months of age, I argue that these early communicative gestures are likely learned through operant conditioning. I also discuss the possible developmental origins of pointing, ranging from operant conditioning to species-typical behavior. It is important to entertain the possibility that simple and well-established learning mechanisms account for children’s early gestures.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Anyone interested in the early communication of typically developing infants and toddlers as well as practitioners interested in designing interventions with clinical communication-disordered populations.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) review the different developmental origins of communicative gestures most commonly considered among researchers; (2) articulate the differences between ontogenetic ritualization and operant conditioning; (3) explain why particular communicative gestures might have particular developmental origins.
 
ELENA NICOLADIS (University of Alberta)
Elena Nicoladis is a professor of psychology at the University of Alberta. Her research interests include first language acquisition (both among bilinguals and monolinguals), language and thought, and gestures in communication.
 
 
Symposium #330
CE Offered: BACB/QABA/NASP — 
Supervision
Training Caregivers, Part II: Enhancing Treatment Integrity
Sunday, May 24, 2020
3:00 PM–4:50 PM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 1, Salon G
Area: DDA/AUT; Domain: Translational
Chair: Lindsay Maffei-Almodovar (Quality Services for the Autism Community (QSAC))
Discussant: Lindsay Maffei-Almodovar (Quality Services for the Autism Community (QSAC))
CE Instructor: Lindsay Maffei-Almodovar, Ph.D.
Abstract:

Delivering effective ABA services requires caregivers to deliver interventions with sufficient integrity to result in socially meaningful changes in client behavior. Yet, many services often struggle to maintain the integrity of applied behavior analytic interventions in applied settings. Thus, practitioners must have behavioral technologies available to them to assess, and increase treatment integrity and evaluate interventions to do so. This symposium presents three papers addressing this important issue. These papers include a systematic review of training natural change agents implementing functional analytic procedures, a telehealth intervention error analysis and identify to remedy the implementation errors and an intervention study to improve treatment integrity during functional communication training

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Keyword(s): error analysis, systematic review, treatment integrity
Target Audience:

Advanced graduate students, Masters and Doctoral practitioners, research students, instructors and professors teaching ABA classes, and psychologists including school psychologists.

Learning Objectives: Participants will describe (1) current developments in behavioral skills training; (2) current developments in pyramidal training; and (3) the effects of BST and pyramidal training on client behavior .
 
Natural Change Agent Implemented Functional Analysis: A Systematic Review and Quality Appraisal
(Applied Research)
EMILY GREGORI (University of Illinois at Chicago), Christine Drew (University of Oregon), Stephanie Gerow (Baylor University), Leslie Neely (The University of Texas at San Antonio)
Abstract: Functional analysis (FA) is the most accurate method for identifying the operant function of challenging behavior. Although trained therapists typically implement FAs, previous research has shown that variables, including the assessment agent, may impact the results of a FA. Given that the assessment agent can impact FA results, there is a need to determine the impact of natural change agent training on fidelity of FA implementation. The purpose of this review was to (a) summarize the available literature on natural change agent implemented FA, (b) determine methods for training natural change agents to implement FAs, and (c) determine the effects of training on change agent implementation fidelity of FA. Thirty-seven studies were identified and evaluated against the What Works Clearinghouse Quality and Evidence standards. Most of the included studies were found to have strong methodological rigor and moderate or strong evidence of effectiveness. Common training components across studies including instructions, modeling, role play, feedback, and coaching. Results suggest these components can be effectively utilized to train parents, teachers, residential staff, and students to implement FA in a variety of applied settings. Recommendations for practitioners and directions for future research will be discussed.
 
An Error Analysis of a Telehealth Intervention for Teaching Behaviour Technicians Common Behavioural Protocols
(Applied Research)
JOEY ROBERTSON (Brock University), Kendra Thomson (Brock University ), Mary Hume (ONTABA), Carly Magnacca (Brock University), Amanda Marcinkiewicz (Brock University)
Abstract: The relation between treatment integrity and client outcome has been empirically supported. Further evaluation of whether types of integrity errors (omission/commission) affect client outcomes is needed. We evaluated the efficacy of behavioural skills training delivered through telecommunication for teaching three behaviour technicians how to implement an errorless learning protocol to an actor role playing a child with autism spectrum disorder. Additionally, we assessed generalization to teaching an untrained skill, a child, and assessed corresponding effects on the child’s skill acquisition. We conducted a follow-up analysis of the behaviour technicians’ rate of errors of commission (ECoM; i.e., behaviours not prescribed by the protocol) and errors of omission (EOM; i.e., excluding components of a protocol). Participant 1 demonstrated more ECoM with the actor and the child than EoM. Both types of errors decreased post-training and in follow-up. We are currently analyzing the remaining behaviour technicians’ performance to assess whether the same pattern exists. Implications of the effect of BST training on the rate of EOM and ECoM and the relation to child responding will be discussed in relation to training.
 
Effects of Treatment Integrity Errors during Functional Communication Training
(Applied Research)
MARIE DAVID (Purdue University), Mandy J. Rispoli (Purdue University)
Abstract: Functional communication training (FCT) is an evidence-based practice for reducing challenging behavior and increasing communication skills of individuals with developmental disabilities. However, due to the procedural complexity of the intervention, practitioners may find difficulty in implementing the intervention with high integrity. Practitioners express the need for evidenced-based practices to be modified in such that it addresses the complexities of the natural environment and barriers to implementation. Fortunately, recent research on treatment integrity has indicated a potential tolerance for implementing behavioral interventions with lower integrity. Further research is needed to determine the threshold in which reinforcement can be delivered to challenging behavior but still lead to a meaningful outcome. For this study, we are evaluating the effects of systematic changes in treatment integrity by altering errors of commission during reinforcement delivery procedures as part of FCT. We utilized an alternating treatments design to compare varying levels of reinforcement delivered to challenging behavior. Preliminary results of the study, implications for practice, and recommendations for future research will be discussed.
 
Training Interaction Skills to Caregivers: A Systematic Literature Review
(Applied Research)
LORI L FINN (Center for Applied Behavior Analysis, The Sage Colleges)
Abstract: Interactions between caregivers and individuals with disabilities may have far-reaching effects, including impacting caregiver-client relationships, caregiver stress levels, and client outcomes. Research has shown, however, that caregiver interactions are not consistently optimal. As such, caregiver training on interaction skills may improve quality of services and quality of life. A systematic literature review of empirical peer-reviewed published studies from 2000 to 2018 was conducted to examine the impact of training interaction skills to caregivers of individuals with disabilities. Thirty-four papers met inclusion criteria. Training methods varied, most including some combination of didactic instruction, role play, demonstration, video modeling, coaching, and performance feedback. Caregivers participating in training included parents, teachers, and direct-support staff. Client participants included children and adults with various disabilities, including intellectual/developmental disabilities, autism spectrum disorder, and emotional behavioral disorders. Behavior-specific praise was a training focus in more than half of the papers, while the focus of the remaining papers was broader, including positive parenting, responsive interaction, and positive interactions. Findings suggest that training can improve interactions between caregivers and clients with disabilities and positively affect client outcomes. Papers will be discussed in terms of demographic and methodological features, including results, generalization, maintenance, limitations, implications and future directions.
 
 
Invited Symposium #333
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
Siegfried Engelmann’s Direct Instruction: Faultless Communication, Measurably Superior Learning, and the Quest for Widespread Adoption
Sunday, May 24, 2020
3:00 PM–4:50 PM
Marriott Marquis, Level M4, Independence A-C
Area: EDC; Domain: Theory
Chair: William L. Heward (Ohio State University)
Discussant: Patrick C. Friman (Boys Town)
CE Instructor: Patrick C. Friman, Ph.D.
Abstract:

Siegfried “Ziggy” Engelmann (1931-2019) dedicated his life to developing and refining Direct Instruction (DI), a powerful teaching system that combines logical selection and sequencing of examples and high rates of responding by students. Countless children and adults owe their literacy to teachers who skillfully presented DI programs developed by Engelmann and colleagues. This symposium will review Engelmann’s achievements as a pioneering scientist, examine the DI research base, show how DI's theory of instruction is harmonious with behavior analysis, and discuss factors that impede the widespread implementation of DI in schools.

Instruction Level: Basic
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) describe two examples of how Siegfried Engelmann was a pioneer in modern cognitive psychology and two examples of how he advanced the field of instructional design; (2) describe the overall findings of a recent meta-analysis of over 300 studies on Direct Instruction and two suggestions for extending and improving the research base; (3) describe three Direct Instruction components that combine to communicate one logical interpretation by the learner; (4) describe why modifying Direct Instruction programs often undermines its effectiveness; (5) describe three reasons why many educators find Direct Instruction aversive.
 

Science in the Service of Humanity: The Astonishing Contributions of Siegfried Engelmann

SHEPARD BARBASH (Author)
Abstract:

A pioneering scientist and educator for more than 50 years, Siegfried ‘Zig’ Engelmann was among the first to apply the scientific method to the design and delivery of instruction. He stood alone for his ability to create programs that accelerate learning in even the hardest to teach children and that most teachers can learn to use. He wrote more than 100 curricula, covering the major subjects from preschool to high school. As a professor of education at University of Oregon and founder of the National Institute for Direct Instruction, he attracted students from around the world. No one did more to help the underdog. Millions of poor children learned when taught by teachers trained in his methods, often when nothing else worked. He never gave up on a child or blamed children for the failings of adults. He lived by his motto: If the student hasn’t learned, the teacher hasn’t taught. More scientific evidence validates DI’s effectiveness than any other mode of teaching. I will present an overview of Zig’s life and achievements.

Shepard Barbash has been a writer for forty years. His work has appeared in The New York TimesWall Street JournalWashington PostSmithsonian MagazineCity JournalEducation Next and other publications. He is former bureau chief of the Houston Chronicle in Mexico City and is the author of five books, including Clear Teaching, published in 2012 by the Education Consumers Foundation. He and his wife, photographer Vicki Ragan, have published an alphabet book of limericks and three illustrated books (including one for children) on the folk-art wood carvers of Oaxaca, Mexico. He has advised the Georgia Governor’s Office and the Atlanta Public Schools (APS) on curricular issues and has organized teacher training programs and written grants for APS. He has also worked for E.D. Hirsch at the Core Knowledge Foundation. He is a graduate of Harvard University.

 

Factors in Education and ABA That Work Against Adoption and Maintenance of Direct Instruction

TIMOTHY SLOCUM (Utah State University)
Abstract:

A great deal of evidence demonstrates that Direct Instruction can be extremely effective for efficiently building academic repertoires in a wide variety of learners including those with disabilities. However, Direct Instruction is not widely implemented in schools or ABA service settings. This presentation explores the interaction of features of Direct Instruction and the resources and contingencies in potential implementation settings that account for the under-utilization of this powerful technology that addresses a high-priority need. First, Direct Instruction must be well-implemented to have the powerful effects it is capable of producing. Second, implementing Direct Instruction well requires a good deal of expertise, on-going support, and ongoing effort by educators. Third, few schools or ABA service providers understand how and why Direct Instruction is powerful; therefore, they often undermine its effectiveness when making modifications, fail to generalize its powerful features, and select less effective programs for reasons that are irrelevant to student achievement. Fourth, many educators find some features of Direct Instruction aversive because of verbal relations surrounding those features, in spite of the fact that Direct Instruction could help them achieve highly-valued outcomes.

Dr. Timothy A. Slocum earned his doctorate in Special Education at the University of Washington in 1991 and has been a faculty member at Utah State University (USU) in the Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation since that time. He has been involved in behavior analysis and reading research for more than 25 years. He has conducted research on phonological skills, vocabulary, and school-wide implementation of research-based reading instruction, and evidence-based practice. He teaches courses at the undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels on topics including evidence-based reading instruction, single-case research methods, statistics, advanced topics in behavior analysis, and verbal behavior. Dr. Slocum was recognized as 2011 Teacher of the Year by the USU College of Education; received the 2011 Fred S. Keller Behavioral Education award from Division 25 of the American Psychological Association; was inducted into the Direct Instruction Hall of Fame in 2013; and was named 2018 Mentor of the Year by UtABA.
 

What’s the Evidence for Direct Instruction?

JEAN STOCKARD (University of Oregon)
Abstract:

More than fifty years and 300 studies document DI’s effectiveness. A recent meta-analysis found that the average effect size for DI was over .50, substantially larger than the level typically found in studies of other programs. Estimated effects were similar across time, methodologies, student characteristics, settings, outcome variables, and comparison programs. However, they were larger when students were exposed for longer periods of time and with greater fidelity, surpassing the effect associated with the average achievement gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students. Future research might most effectively focus on ways to improve implementation fidelity and understand resistance to the programs.

Jean Stockard has Bachelor of Arts degrees in mathematics and sociology, a Masters of Arts in Sociology, and a Ph.D. in Sociology. She taught at the University of Oregon from 1974 to 2011 and currently holds the rank of Professor Emerita. She has published eight books and over seven dozen articles in a wide variety of areas, including sociology of gender, urban sociology, sociology of education, sociology of health and demography. She has taught a variety of courses related to these areas as well as numerous classes on methodology and quantitative analysis. Professor Stockard was President of the Pacific Sociological Association in 2008, the regional association serving the western United States, Canada, and Mexico; served as co-editor of Sociological Perspectives, a general sociological journal; and was employed for nine years as Director of Research and Evaluation at the National Institute for Direct Instruction, a nonprofit organization devoted to helping schools in disadvantaged areas better serve their students.

 

Faultless Communication: The Heart and Soul of DI

JANET TWYMAN (blast)
Abstract:

Engelmann and colleagues realized that a scientific analysis of learning needed to control for one of two variables: either the learner or the instruction. As no two learners are alike, they focused on controlling instruction—in the form of logical, “faultless communication.” For most novice learners, normal instruction is riddled with confusion and ambiguity. To reduce misinterpretation and maximize learning, DI's instructional components (such as content analysis, explicit teaching, judicious example selection, and structured sequencing) are designed communicate one logical interpretation. The effects on the learner's performance are then observed, and the communication redesigned until faultless. DI's “Theory of Instruction” is harmonious with behavior analysis and beneficial to anyone interested in the heart and soul of good instruction.

Janet Twyman received her Ph.D. from Columbia University. She currently holds the positions of Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and Director of Innovation and Technology for the Center on Innovations in Learning, having served previously as Vice President of Instructional Development, Research, and Implementation for Headsprout. Dr. Twyman is widely recognized as an authority on instructional design, fully informed by behavior analytic research and conceptualization. Her leadership contributions at Headsprout were pivotal in managing a project of more than $6 million, which reached more than a million children with effective reading instruction. Similarly impressive were her contributions and her leadership at the Fred S. Keller School, where she served as executive director for eight years, arranging a behavioral approach to every aspect of the school’s functioning and inspiring many students, staff members, and parents in doing so. Dr. Twyman has also provided significant service to the field, with leadership roles within the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Research and for ABAI, where she served as president, Executive Council member, and chair of several important boards and task forces.
 
 
Symposium #339
CE Offered: BACB/QABA
Services to Students With Autism in South Texas
Sunday, May 24, 2020
4:00 PM–4:50 PM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 1, Salon H
Area: AUT/EDC; Domain: Service Delivery
Chair: Alonzo Alfredo Andrews (University of Texas at San Antonio)
Discussant: Lee L Mason (Cook Children's Health Care System)
CE Instructor: Lee L Mason, M.A.
Abstract:

or the 2019-2020 academic year, nine San Antonio area school districts were funded by the Texas Education Agency to provide early intensive verbal behavior intervention for students with autism. At the start of the year students were assessed using the Verbal Behavior Stimulus Control Ratio Equation (VB-SCoRE) to determine the extent to which mands, echoics, tacts, and sequelics exerted disproportionate levels of control over their verbal behavior. The results of the VB-SCoRE were then used to develop individualized verbal behavior intervention plans for each student. Teachers and paraprofessionals were trained to implement referent-based verbal behavior instruction to transfer control across these four primary verbal operants. In addition to providing direct classroom-based services for students with autism, the project included parent trainings conducted by district behavior analysts. At the end of the year, students were re-assessed with the VB-SCoRE to analyze verbal behavior gains. This symposium presents data from the project, highlighting results from participating districts along with a description of how the project was contextualized to fit the diverse student populations they serve.

Instruction Level: Basic
Keyword(s): classroom-based intervention, early childhood, public school, verbal behavior
Target Audience:

School-based practitioners

Learning Objectives: Attendees will be able to: - Discriminate between mand, tact, echoic, and sequelic operants - Describe the stimulus control ratio equation (SCoRE) assessment as a pre/post measure - Derive behavioral objectives based on strength hierarchy
 
Services to Students With Autism in San Antonio Independent School District
SONYA CASAS (SAISD), Kelsey L Cody (San Antonio ISD)
Abstract: San Antonio Independent School District serves a diverse urban population in Downtown San Antonio. Through the TEA Services to Student with Autism grant in the 2019-2020 school year, participating students received interventions focused on using the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis to increase language and communication. The focus on teaching verbal behavior was based on the premise that communication deficits are a principal characteristics of Autism which impedes successful inclusion into the General Education setting. The focus on early childhood ages targeted the need for early intervention in teaching language. In addition to direct services to students, the grant also provided participating teachers and parents with training on Autism and principles of Applied Behavior Analysis. Because SAISD serves a high percentage of Spanish speakers, parent trainings were provided in both English and Spanish. This paper will review demographic information as well as pre-and post-test data from the students and parents served through this grant in the 2019-2020 school year.
 
Services to Students With Autism in Military School Districts
GUADALUPE CASTANEDA (Fort Sam Houston ISD)
Abstract: Fort Sam Houston ISD, Lackland ISD, and Randolph Field ISD in collaboration with 6 other school districts in the San Antonio, Texas area partnered with Region 20 Education Service Center to provide training and services based on applied verbal behavior (AVB). The military school districts are unique in that they are public schools housed onsite at three different military bases around the city. A SCoRE (Stimulus Control Ratio Equation) assessment was conducted for each of the student participants to determine the balance of verbal operants (i.e., mands, tacts, echoics, sequelics) in their language repertoire. Teachers, instructional assistants, and speech language pathologists who worked with the grant participants were trained to utilize AVB techniques in the natural school environments. Parents were provided training in ABA/AVB principles and techniques throughout the grant period. The training and services provided to the military ISDs and collaborating school districts addressed the needs of a growing population of individuals with autism and related disorders, especially in school systems where most of these individuals will receive services for up to 18 years.
 
 
Panel #341A
CE Offered: BACB/QABA
PDS: Business Leaders in ABA
Sunday, May 24, 2020
4:00 PM–4:50 PM
Marriott Marquis, Level M4, Liberty M
Area: OBM/TBA; Domain: Translational
CE Instructor: Megan Miller, Ph.D.
Chair: Tangchen Li (The Ohio State University; DolFun Academy)
MEGAN MILLER (#dobetter Pod)
MARY SAWYER (Fit Learning Atlanta)
DAVID BICARD (Great Leaps Learning Center)
Abstract:

The rapidly growing field of ABA offers a wide range of occupational opportunities for behavior analysts. One potential opportunity is operating a business that provides ABA services. In this panel discussion, three successful business owners who provide behavioral services will share their experiences and advice for starting and running a business that delivers ABA-based services. The three panelists are Dr. Mary Sawyer, Co-owner and Director of Fit Learning Atlanta and Founding Director of TEAM Coaching, LLC; Dr. Megan Miller, Co-Founder of Navigation Behavioral Consulting, former CEO of PEAK ABA Solutions, and Founder of the Do Better Professional Development Movement; and Dr. David Bicard, CEO of Great Leaps Learning Center. The three panelists will be address topics such as starting and maintaining a business, training and coaching staff, overcoming obstacles, and dealing with potential ethical issues. This is a 50 minutes Q&A panel discussion, in which you'll have the opportunity to ask any questions about the three different types of business in our ABA world.

Instruction Level: Basic
Target Audience:

The target audience will be behavior analysts, undergraduates, and parents who want to know more about how to start and operating business that provides ABA services.

Learning Objectives: N/A
Keyword(s): ABA Business, Ethical Compliance, OBM, Staff Coaching
 
 
B. F. Skinner Lecture Series Paper Session #343
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
Bullying Among Youth in the Digital Era
Sunday, May 24, 2020
4:00 PM–4:50 PM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 2, Room 207A
Area: DDA; Domain: Service Delivery
Chair: Kelly M. Schieltz (University of Iowa)
CE Instructor: Kelly M. Schieltz, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: REBECCA ANG (National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)
Abstract:

The advancement of technology has inevitably shaped social interactions for a large majority of adolescents in urbanized cities. This digital age is a time of positive growth, but also a time of considerable challenge. Bullying has extended its reach from the physical to the cyberspace. Most of what we now know about traditional bullying and cyberbullying comes from research conducted in Western societies. There have been a number of studies from Asian Pacific Rim societies, though it is acknowledged that there is a comparative lack of studies from South-East Asian countries. This talk will review key issues in this field such as the similarities, differences, and relationship between cyberbullying and traditional bullying, measurement issues in cyberbullying research as it relates to prevalence rates, and crucial cross-cultural considerations. This talk will also examine the risk and protective factors, and outcomes including mental health outcomes of traditional/cyberbullying victims and perpetrators. Finally, this talk will also include a review of prevention and intervention strategies targeting multiple levels and contexts/systems (individual, relationships such as parent-adolescent, teacher-student, peer-peer, school, community) which will be needed to more effectively address traditional and cyberbullying in an integrated manner.

Instruction Level: Basic
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) discuss the similarities, differences, and relationship between cyberbullying and traditional bullying; (2) discuss measurement issues in cyberbullying research and how these issues influence prevalence rates; (3) review the risk and protective factors, and outcomes of cyberbullying/traditional victims and perpetrators; (4) promote prevention and intervention strategies targeting multiple levels and contexts/systems in order to more effectively address cyberbullying and traditional bullying in an integrated manner.
 
REBECCA ANG (National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)
Rebecca P. Ang is a Professor with the Psychological Studies Academic Group, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NIE NTU Singapore). She obtained her Ph.D. in School Psychology from Texas A&M University. She is a Nationally Certified School Psychologist in the USA, and a Registered Psychologist in Singapore. Dr. Ang’s research and professional interests include developmental child psychopathology, and in particular antisocial, aggressive behavior, and related prevention and intervention work. She is also interested in children’s relationships with their parents and teachers, and the impact these relationships have on children’s adjustment and functioning. Dr. Ang is a well-cited researcher whose scholarly work has been published in international peer reviewed journals. She serves on various advisory boards within NTU, government ministries, as well as voluntary welfare organizations. Some of her previous awards include the International Council of Psychologists Seisoh Sukemune/Bruce Bain Early Career Research Award, Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Singapore Foundation Education Award, the NTU Nanyang Education Award (College), and the Singapore National Day Award - The Public Administration Medal (Bronze).
 
 
Invited Panel #348
CE Offered: BACB/PSY/QABA
Behavioral Economics: A Panel Discussion on Its Past, Present, and Future
Sunday, May 24, 2020
4:00 PM–4:50 PM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 3, Ballroom AB
Area: SCI; Domain: Theory
Chair: Derek D. Reed (University of Kansas)
CE Instructor: Derek D. Reed, Ph.D.
Panelists: WARREN BICKEL (Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute and Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech), STEVEN HURSH (Institutes for Behavior Resources, Inc.), AMY ODUM (Utah State University)
Abstract:

Behavioral economics is the intersection of operant psychology and micro-economic principles. The subfield of behavioral economics began as a novel means of interpreting drug administration studies in behavioral pharmacology and the experimental analysis of behavior. Over time, the translational utility of behavioral economics—especially in the domains of delay discounting and operant demand—has become apparent in nearly all facets of behavior analysis (e.g., OBM, treatment of severe problem behavior, substance use, education). Decades of research on the topics of discounting and demand have thereby led to the development of efficient yet psychometrically sound measures that permit generality to nearly any setting or research question. Recent critiques of behavioral economics, however, suggest it is antithetical to the dimensions of behavior analysis due to the use of self-report and quantitative analyses. This panel discussion will feature three of the most impactful luminaries in behavioral economics; collectively, the group will discuss the behavior analytic origins of behavioral economics, contemporary applications in behavior analysis, and suggestions for future research and development.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Any behavior analyst.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) define behavioral economics in behavior analytic terms; (2) describe the behavior analytic origins of behavioral economics; (3) identify behavioral economic principles that are omnipresent in behavior analytic practices.
WARREN BICKEL (Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute and Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech)
Dr. Warren Bickel is a leading figure in behavioral pharmacology, with an outstanding record of scientific and professional contributions to experimental and applied behavior analysis. His work on the applications of behavioral economic principles derived from basic research with nonhuman organisms to drug abuse in humans has opened an exciting and productive new approach to this area with implications for treatments and science-based drug abuse policies. Dr. Bickel's work has contributed to the expanded use of methadone for the treatment of opioid dependence and the development and approval of buprenorphine, the newest agent for opioid-dependent treatment. He has received numerous awards and positions for his accomplishments, including a MERIT Award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, University Scholar Award from the University of Vermont, editor of Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, president of Division 28 of the American Psychological Association, and president of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence. He has published four books and more than 200 journal articles and book chapters.
STEVEN HURSH (Institutes for Behavior Resources, Inc.)
Dr. Steven R. Hursh received his BA from Wake Forest University in 1968 and his Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego in 1972. He is the president of the Institutes for Behavior Resources and adjunct professor of Behavioral Biology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Hursh has over 40 years' experience as a researcher and is author of over 80 articles, book chapters, and books. He is a former associate editor of the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. His seminal article on economic concepts for the analysis of behavior is considered one of the most significant articles in the history of the journal. Dr. Hursh has been a key figure in the establishment of behavioral economics as a major conceptual area. His research papers have introduced into the behavioral vocabulary a number of "household terms" in behavioral psychology: open and closed economies, demand curves and demand elasticity, unit price, substitution and complementarity, Pmax, Omax, and recently essential value based on exponential demand that has broad generality across species and reinforcers. His extensions to drug abuse and the framing of drug abuse policy have had a major impact on the direction of research on substance use disorders. 
AMY ODUM (Utah State University)

Amy Odum is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Utah State University. Her research interests are in basic behavioral phenomena, such as response persistence, sensitivity to delayed outcomes, conditional discriminations, and environmental influences on drug effects. Her work has been funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute of Mental Health. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Vermont’s Human Behavioral Pharmacology Laboratory after earning her Ph.D. and M.A. in Psychology, specializing in Behavior Analysis, from West Virginia University. She received a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Florida. Dr. Odum served as Editor in Chief of the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. She has been President of the Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior and President of Division 25 (Behavior Analysis) of the American Psychological Association. She is a Fellow of the Association for Behavior Analysis International.

 
 
Invited Paper Session #361
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
The Interaction Between Development and Instruction
Sunday, May 24, 2020
5:00 PM–5:50 PM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 1, Salon C
Area: DEV; Domain: Basic Research
Chair: Jessica Singer-Dudek (Teachers College, Columbia University)
CE Instructor: Kieva Hranchuk, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: KIEVA HRANCHUK (St. Lawrence College)
Abstract:

The difference between curricula and pedagogy is highlighted best when we consider what we teach versus how we teach it. There exists an interaction between development and instruction such that instruction can only be effective if the educator considers the learner’s level of verbal development. The ways in which we teach must cater to the current verbal developmental cusps found within the learner’s repertoire. While the progression of instructional objectives targeted within a curriculum will change as the learner acquires the necessary prerequisite skills to move forward, attention should be placed on modifying the ways in which we teach those subsequent objectives. Research in the field of verbal behavior development has proven time and time again that the acquisition of skills can be accelerated if the method of teaching is consistent with the capabilities that the learner exhibits, i.e. the presence of verbal developmental cusps within their repertoire.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Educators, Practitioners, and Researchers

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) discuss verbal developmental cusps; (2) identify how verbal development relates to pedagogy; (3) modify instruction to better suit the learner.
 
KIEVA HRANCHUK (St. Lawrence College)

Kieva is both a certified special education teacher and a doctoral-level board certified behavior analyst. She specializes in teacher training as well as in supervision of evidence-based service delivery to students with and without disabilities. Her interests include effective delivery of instruction, analyzing rates of learning in young children, inclusion/integration, kindergarten readiness, verbal behavior development, and the CABAS® model. Her research focuses on how teaching procedures can be effectively modified to accelerate student learning. Kieva received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and a Behavioural Science Technician post-graduate certificate from George Brown College in Toronto, Ontario. She then worked at both Surrey Place Centre in Toronto and at the CHEO Autism Program in Ottawa before making the big move to New York City. There, she earned her M.A. in Teaching as Applied Behavior Analysis and her Ph.D. in Applied Behavior Analysis at Columbia University. She has taught at both Columbia University and Arizona State University as an Adjunct Assistant Professor. Additionally, Kieva helped to pioneer the Scottsdale Children’s Institute, an integrated kindergarten readiness program in Arizona where she then served as the Clinical Director for two years before moving back to Canada to begin her career as a full-time Professor at St. Lawrence College.

 
 
B. F. Skinner Lecture Series Paper Session #366
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
Leveraging Technology for Health Behavior Change
Sunday, May 24, 2020
5:00 PM–5:50 PM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 3, Ballroom AB
Area: SCI; Domain: Applied Research
Chair: Stephanie M. Peterson (Western Michigan University)
CE Instructor: Stephanie M. Peterson, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: SHERRY PAGOTO (University of Massachusetts Medical School)
Abstract:

The digital health industry, estimated to be worth $206 billion by 2020, has produced countless mobile apps, wearable devices, and other technologies to help users develop healthy lifestyles to manage and prevent physical and mental illness. An open question is whether behavioral science is being applied to these innovations which reach millions of users each day. In this talk, Dr. Pagoto will first discuss her work examining the degree to which the work of behavioral scientists is represented in popular commercial health technologies, and then she will present her research applying behavioral principles via mobile technology and social media. Finally, she will discuss ways that technology can provide novel sources of data to enhance our understanding of behavior as well as the efficacy and reach of behavioral interventions.

Instruction Level: Basic
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) understand the important role that behavioral science can and should play in informing digital health innovations; (2) understand ways that behavioral strategies, including stimulus control, self-monitoring, and others, can be applied using mobile technology; (3) understand ways that social media can be leveraged to reduce the burden of behavioral interventions while enhancing the impact of behavioral strategies.
 
SHERRY PAGOTO (University of Massachusetts Medical School)
Dr. Pagoto earned her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Western Michigan University in 2000. She is now a Professor in the Department of Allied Health Sciences at the University of Connecticut and Director of the UConn Center for mHealth and Social Media. Her research, funded by the National Institutes of Health, focuses on leveraging technology in the development and delivery of behavioral interventions designed to reduce risk for the top two causes of death in the US: cardiovascular disease and cancer. She has published nearly 200 papers on these topics. Devoted to communicating behavioral science to the public, she has >25K followers on Twitter and has written for the Washington Post, Boston Globe, Salon, US News and World Report, Chronicle of Higher Education, and Psychology Today. Her work has been featured in major news outlets including CNN, NPR, NBC News, ABC News, and Good Morning America. As a lifelong devoted behavior analyst, she keeps a first edition signed copy of B. F. Skinner’s autobiography displayed in her office.
 
 
Invited Paper Session #382
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
Designing Instruction for All Learners: How Verbal Development Informs Curriculum
Sunday, May 24, 2020
6:00 PM–6:50 PM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 1, Salon C
Area: DEV; Domain: Applied Research
Chair: Jo Ann Pereira Delgado (Teachers College, Columbia University)
CE Instructor: Jennifer Weber, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: JENNIFER WEBER (Teachers College, Columbia University)
Abstract:

Research findings from our CABAS® and Accelerated Independent Learner (AIL) schools and laboratories have demonstrated that instruction for all learners is best arranged with a focus on verbal development. The Early Learner Curriculum and Achievement Record (ELCAR, previously known as the C-PIRK) provides an inventory of repertoires and verbal developmental cusps that are the foundation for children to excel in Kindergarten. Our AIL objectives and new STEM curricula serve more advanced learners. However, knowing what to teach is only half the battle. Instruction must take place within the context of the learner’s verbal development. Once students have the necessary foundational repertoires and verbal behavior developmental cusps that will allow learning to occur, it is crucial to identify the proper instructional objectives. In this talk, I will provide academic teaching sequences aligned to both State and Common Core standards to instruct all students. I will also provide an overview of how to arrange instruction for all learners, from students at the pre-foundational level to those who are independent readers and writers.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Individuals interested in verbal behavior, or verbal behavior developmental theory in relation to instructional design.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) discuss the foundational verbal behavior developmental cusps that allows for learning to occur; (2) describe how to arrange academic instruction based on verbal behavior developmental cusps; (3) provide detailed descriptions of academic teaching sequences for students at different levels of verbal behavior; (4) discuss best instructional practices to accelerate learning for all learners.
 
JENNIFER WEBER (Teachers College, Columbia University)
Dr. Jennifer Weber is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at both Teachers College, Columbia University and Nicholls State University. She received her Master’s, M.Phill, and Ph.D., in Applied Behavior Analysis from Teachers College, Columbia University. Dr. Weber is a doctoral level-board certified behavior analyst and holds a CABAS® Senior Behavior Analyst rank. She specializes in training teachers to utilize a Strategic Science of Teaching in both Special Education and General Education settings. Her research interests include verbal behavior development, instructional design, and teacher training.
 
 
Invited Paper Session #383
CE Offered: BACB/PSY/QABA
What Your Future Self Wants You to Know Now
Sunday, May 24, 2020
6:00 PM–6:50 PM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 3, Ballroom AB
Area: EAB; Domain: Theory
Chair: Erik Arntzen (Oslo Metropolitan University)
CE Instructor: Amy Odum, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: AMY ODUM (Utah State University)
Abstract:

Although the behavior of humans and other animals can show exquisite sensitivity to consequences, under some circumstances, we act as if important variables are irrelevant. Why is that? How can we learn to act now, to avoid regret later? I will discuss common end-of-life regrets and work backwards to the present, reverse engineering the path we will wish we had taken. Delay discounting, the decline in the present value of temporally remote rewards, can contribute to the understanding and thus prevention of regret. I will discuss the factors that give rise to our disregard of our future preferences. These include the shape of discounting curves, aspects of the rewards in consideration, and organismic influences. I will discuss research from the basic laboratory to the clinic, and apply it to individual, societal, and global decision-making levels. Within these factors are the keys to changing our own decision making now to prevent regret later.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Practitioners, basic, applied, and clinical behavior analysts.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) define delay discounting; (2) discuss how delay discounting contributes to regret; (3) describe the shape of delay discounting curves and how this contributes to impulsivity; (4) describe the contribution of reward type to delay discounting; (5) describe the organismic contribution to delay discounting.
 
AMY ODUM (Utah State University)

Amy Odum is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Utah State University. Her research interests are in basic behavioral phenomena, such as response persistence, sensitivity to delayed outcomes, conditional discriminations, and environmental influences on drug effects. Her work has been funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute of Mental Health. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Vermont’s Human Behavioral Pharmacology Laboratory after earning her Ph.D. and M.A. in Psychology, specializing in Behavior Analysis, from West Virginia University. She received a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Florida. Dr. Odum served as Editor in Chief of the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. She has been President of the Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior and President of Division 25 (Behavior Analysis) of the American Psychological Association. She is a Fellow of the Association for Behavior Analysis International.

 
 
Invited Paper Session #431
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
Expanding Behavior Analysis to Promote Better Outcomes for Persons With Disabilities
Monday, May 25, 2020
8:00 AM–8:50 AM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 1, Salon C
Area: CBM; Domain: Applied Research
Chair: Michele R. Traub (St. Cloud State University)
CE Instructor: Alison Cox, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: ALISON COX (Brock University)
Abstract:

Objectivity, accountability, replicability, verifiability: these are a sample of the cornerstones of the science of behaviour analysis. As a field, we emphasize developing direct measurement systems to promote accountability. These systems may add value across client services and service delivery models that may not always incorporate direct measurement protocols. For example, my co-investigator and I developed a program evaluation tool, guided by behavior analytic measurement practices, to examine how well services align with respective best-practice recommendations in a government-funded service supporting adults with acquired brain injury. Direct measurement systems may also add substantial value to psychopharmacology in treating challenging behavior in individuals with disabilities (e.g., intellectual and developmental disabilities; acquired brain injury). In fact, recent literature has concluded medication monitoring processes in this context are poor or non-existent. Clients often receive concurrent, but separate, psychopharmacological and behavioural interventions. In some cases, psychiatry and behaviour analysts working together. These relatively rare arrangements present behavior analysts with an opportunity to promote systematic data collection to efficiently identify medication impact on behavior (e.g., adaptive, maladaptive), including side effects. Unfortunately, behavior analysts do not often receive formal training relevant to psychotropic medications. Promoting behavior analysis as a valuable component in the context of psychopharmacological intervention means having behavior analysts well-trained in this area. One step towards this goal may be to establish an evidence-based training protocol enabling behavior analysts to perform effectively when collaboration opportunities arises. I will describe a research project exploring the clinical utility and feasibility of a Medications Guidelines Tool and training for behavior analysts.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Behavioral practitioners; applied researchers

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) summarize the current status of the intersection between applied behavior analysis and psychotropic medication; (2) discuss how and where to start in developing program evaluation systems, guided by behavior analytic principles, in a treatment context; (3) discuss how and where to start in developing data collection systems in relation to psychotropic medication effects in the context of medication monitoring.
 
ALISON COX (Brock University)

Dr. Alison Cox received her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Manitoba. She is also a Board Certified Behavior Analyst – Doctoral. Throughout her Ph.D., Dr. Cox was involved in a variety of research initiatives ranging from developing measures to reliably identify preference in individuals with profound multiple disabilities to teaching children and adolescents with autism to successfully undergo MRI procedures. As an Assistant Professor in the Applied Disability Studies program at Brock University her research interests continue to be diverse. However, her primary interests lay in behavioral medicine, including examining the effects of psychotropic medication on behaviour. Through her current and past research and clinical experiences Dr. Cox has developed specific expertise in assessing and treating severe challenging behaviour in individuals with dual diagnosis and acquired brain injury, supporting skill acquisition in individuals with dual diagnosis and autism, and supervising early intensive behavioural intervention programs. Dr. Cox has presented her work at international and national conferences, is published in several prominent behaviour analytic journals, and serves as a peer-reviewer across a range of journals in the disabilities field. Finally, Dr. Cox currently serves on the Ontario Association for Behaviour Analysis (ONTABA) Adult Task Force and recently co-authored a best-practice guidelines document entitled Evidence-based Practices for Individuals with Challenging Behaviour: Recommendations for Caregiver, Practitioners, and Policy Makers.

 
 
B. F. Skinner Lecture Series Paper Session #435
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
Improving Observed Parenting and Enhancing Well-Being in Parents of Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder
Monday, May 25, 2020
8:00 AM–8:50 AM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 3, Ballroom AB
Area: DEV; Domain: Applied Research
Chair: Jessica Singer-Dudek (Teachers College, Columbia University)
CE Instructor: Jessica Singer-Dudek, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: MARLA BRASSARD (Teachers College, Columbia University)
Abstract:

Research has shown that parents of children with ASD are among the most stressed as compared to all other parents, including those who have children with other psychiatric conditions and developmental disabilities (Hayes & Watson, 2013). Parents of children with ASD are chronically stressed because the demands of the family environment often exceed the parent’s ability to cope. There are few evidence-based interventions available for professionals to use with parents of a child with ASD: some use cognitive therapies, such as meditation, some use social support to reduce stress and mental health problems, and others use implement parent training to improve child behavior. Few if any combine both mental health and behavioral approaches, and none of these are designed for implementation by school personnel. This presentation describes findings from a multi-year transdisciplinary investigation into the most common stressors for parents of preschool children with ASD attending a CABAS® model school. Specifically, in two studies we surveyed parents to determine their reported levels of stress and common stressors, as well as parents’ mental and physical wellbeing, self-care, and self-efficacy skills. In the first study we also examined mother-child interactions during free-play and demand situations in order to determine possible target behaviors for intervention. Implications of the findings and suggestions for interventions will be discussed.

Instruction Level: Basic
Target Audience:

Those interested in parent education and interventions to help parents cope with the stresses of parenting a child with ASD. These may include practitioners, educators, researchers, or parents themselves.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) describe the evidence as to whether a child’s negative behaviors are manipulative (and thus should be ignored) OR important signals of a child’s needs (and thus should be attended to); (2) describe how child characteristics (e.g., temperament, verbal behavior developmental level, rate of learning in the ABA school, co-morbid diagnoses, severity of ASD) relate to the quality of observed parenting and the implications of these findings for interventions; (3) describe the stressors and mental health of mothers and fathers and the implications for intervention; (4) list the self-care practices that are related to lower stress and better observed quality of parenting.
 
MARLA BRASSARD (Teachers College, Columbia University)
Marla R. Brassard, Ph.D., is a Professor in the School Psychology Program at Teachers College, Columbia University. For 37 years her research has focused on parenting, especially psychological maltreatment (PM) of children by parents, a non-physical form of abuse and neglect, that research shows is the equivalent in adverse causal impact to other forms of maltreatment and the most related to depression and suicidal behavior. Recently her work has expanded to include parenting in other high stress contexts, specifically parenting a young child with autistic spectrum disorder, with a focus on interventions that enhance parental wellbeing and increase quality of parenting. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and past president of the Council of Directors of School Psychology Programs.
 
 
Invited Paper Session #437
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
A Behavior Analytic Theory of Complex Behavior
Monday, May 25, 2020
8:00 AM–8:50 AM
Marriott Marquis, Level M2, Marquis Ballroom 6
Area: PCH; Domain: Theory
Chair: Michael D. Hixson (Central Michigan University)
CE Instructor: Henry Schlinger, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: HENRY SCHLINGER (California State University, LA)
Abstract:

In 1950, Skinner published an article titled “Are Theories of Learning Necessary?” which was widely misunderstood and misrepresented as arguing that theories in science were not necessary. In fact, he was arguing that explanations of behavior consisting of explanatory fictions were not only not necessary, but faulty. Skinner’s choice of the term “theory” in that context was unfortunate. Elsewhere (e.g., Skinner, 1957), Skinner has used the term “interpretation” to refer to his extrapolation of the basic principles of operant behavior from the experimental laboratory to the understanding of complex behavior, including behavior he called verbal. This was also an unfortunate choice because what he called interpretation was nothing less than a theoretical analysis. In this instance, the standard term “theory” would have been more appropriate. In the present talk, I offer one view of what theories in science are and how they originate, and then I discuss what a behavior-analytic theory is and how it has been, and continues to be, applied to understanding complex human behavior. As with theories in the natural sciences, behavior-analytic theory does not posit circular explanations, does not commit the nominal fallacy or the reification fallacy, and is parsimonious. In other words, the statements comprising the theory point to observable or potentially observable and testable events.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) define and describe theory in the natural sciences and in behavior analysis; (2) define and describe with examples the critical thinking strategies of nominal fallacy, reification, circular reasoning (explanatory fictions), and parsimony; (3) describe what the basic unit of analysis in behavior analysis is and how behavior-analytic theory can be used to explain some examples of complex human behavior; (4) describe how a behavior-analytic theory of complex behavior is parsimonious.
 
HENRY SCHLINGER (California State University, LA)

Henry D. (Hank) Schlinger Jr. received his Ph.D. in psychology (applied behavior analysis) from Western Michigan University (WMU) under the supervision of Jack Michael. He then completed a two-year National Institutes of Health-funded post-doctoral fellowship in behavioral pharmacology also at WMU with Alan Poling. Dr. Schlinger was a full tenured professor of psychology at Western New England University in Springfield, MA, before moving to Los Angeles in 1998. He is now professor of psychology and former director of the M. S. Program in Applied Behavior Analysis in the Department of Psychology at California State University, Los Angeles. Dr. Schlinger has published 80 scholarly articles, chapters, and commentaries in more than 30 different journals. He also has authored or co-authored three books, Psychology: A Behavioral Overview (1990), A Behavior-Analytic View of Child Development (1995) (which was translated into Japanese), and Introduction to Scientific Psychology (1998). He is past editor of The Analysis of Verbal Behavior and The Behavior Analyst and sits on the editorial boards of several other journals. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies and on the Advisory Board of The Venus Project (https://www.resourcebasedeconomy.org/advisory-board/). He received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Department of Psychology at Western Michigan University in 2012, and the Jack Michael Award for Outstanding Contributions in Verbal Behavior from the Verbal Behavior Special Interest Group of the Association for Behavior Analysis International in 2015.

 
 
B. F. Skinner Lecture Series Paper Session #452
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
Neurobehavioral Biomarkers of Autism Spectrum Disorder
Monday, May 25, 2020
9:00 AM–9:50 AM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 2, Room 207A
Area: AUT; Domain: Basic Research
Chair: Tiffany Kodak (Marquette University)
CE Instructor: Tiffany Kodak, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: GABRIELA ROSENBLAU (George Washington University)
Abstract:

Advances in genetics, molecular biology, and cognitive neuroscience offer hope for personalized treatment and improved outcomes in those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the promise of precision medicine is limited by a lack of mechanistic models that explain phenotypic and etiological heterogeneity; instead of using such models to identify subgroups likely to respond to specific treatments, the field relies on service availability, trial-and-error, and clinical judgment to make treatment decisions. In line with the computational psychiatry objective, my research integrates mathematical models of behavior and brain activity to establish neurocognitive models that can successfully predict individual social and nonsocial learning profiles. Specifically, I am formally comparing the suitability of various computational models to capture selective deficits in social learning of individuals with ASD, as well as variability in both social and nonsocial learning across typically developing youth and those with ASD. Identifying how these model-based predictions are implemented in the brain will allow us to identify neural architecture underlying learning in therapeutically relevant contexts. The long-term goal of this research line is to apply these computational models to inform, refine, and individualize diagnosis, education, and treatment of youth with ASD.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: PENDING
 
GABRIELA ROSENBLAU (George Washington University)

I am an Assistant Professor of cognitive neuroscience in the Psychology department at George Washington University (GWU). I am also affiliated with the Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Institute at GWU. My research combines computational and neuroscientific methods to understand the neurobiological mechanisms underlying learning in neurotypical and clinical populations, especially autism spectrum disorder. I have expertise in designing naturalistic tasks to assess social decision making in behavior and brain function, conducting longitudinal clinical studies, computational modeling and developmental cognitive neuroscience. I have recently been awarded the Bridge to Independence Award by the Simons Foundation for Autism Research to study learning in autism with a computational neuroscientific approach and its implications for treatment.

 
 
B. F. Skinner Lecture Series Paper Session #459
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
The Influence of Social Synchrony and Social and Motor Context on Social Communication, Social Interaction, and Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors in Autism
Monday, May 25, 2020
9:00 AM–9:50 AM
Marriott Marquis, Level M2, Marquis Ballroom 6
Area: EAB; Domain: Basic Research
Chair: Karen M. Lionello-DeNolf (Assumption College)
CE Instructor: Karen M. Lionello-DeNolf, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: PAULA FITZPATRICK (Assumption College)
Abstract:

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is marked by social communication and interaction impairments and restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs), yet little is understood about the etiology of these impairments and there are few successful treatment interventions. The expression and severity of social impairments can vary widely across individuals, so more objective bio-behavioral markers that measure the process of how interactions unfold over time will greatly enhance our understanding and could lead to targeting of interventions to particular subgroups of patients. Engagement in restrictive and repetitive behaviors can compound the social communication and interaction difficulties, so a fuller understanding of the contextual factors that influence the expression of RRBs is also need. In this talk, I argue that social synchrony may be a useful dynamic bio-marker of social ability in children and adolescents with ASD. The relevance of social synchrony and coupled oscillator-based modeling of synchronization for understanding social impairment in ASD will be discussed and synchronization ability for spontaneous and intentional interpersonal coordination in children and adolescents with and without ASD will be compared. In addition, I will present data that evaluates the relationship between synchronization ability and more traditional clinical and social cognitive measures of social ability and evaluate the influence of social and motor context on the presentation of RRBs and language production during conversation. Finally, the promise of social synchronization ability for providing a measure with heightened resolution to identify the essential qualities of social performance in naturalistic situations and isolate underlying neural mechanisms that may be disrupted in ASD will be discussed and directions for future research and potential interventions outlined.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) illustrate the relevance of social synchrony and coupled oscillator-based modeling of synchronization for understanding social communication and interaction impairment in autism spectrum disorder; (2) Compare synchronization ability for spontaneous, intentional, interpersonal coordination during social-motor tasks and during conversation in children and adolescents with and without ASD using both behavioral and neural measures; (3) Explain the relationship between synchronization ability and traditional measures of social cognition; (4) Demonstrate the importance of social and motor context in influencing RRB presentation and language production and discuss its use for interventions; (5) Describe the application of social synchronization as a potential early biobehavioral marker and treatment intervention for ASD.
 
PAULA FITZPATRICK (Assumption College)
My research focuses on understanding how bodily movement tunes psychological development by exploring the impact of motor behavior on social, cognitive, and emotional developmental outcomes from infancy through adolescence. In particular, current projects focus on understanding the relationship between motor coordination and social skills, the contribution of social coordination to social problems in autism, the factors (at the level of the child and family) that influence the development of motor skill, and the relationship between motor skill and early learning and academic success. My research derives from dynamical systems theory that emphasizes self-organizing principles of stability, instability, and behavioral transitions to understand the emergence and progression of behavior. My approach involves measuring behavior across multiple domains (motor, social, cognitive, emotional) and at a number of scales—observable behavioral coding, micro-dynamical time-series measures, and, more recently, neurobiological measures. My research employs innovative, multi-method research designs and the formation of collaborative research teams with diverse backgrounds that cut across disciplinary expertise—developmental psychology, clinical psychology, social psychology, movement science, neuroscience, and education—and has important implications for translating new knowledge about social, cognitive, and motor development into treatments and interventions to help struggling children and families. 
 
 
B. F. Skinner Lecture Series Paper Session #461
CE Offered: BACB/PSY/QABA
Experimental and Behavioral Psychology at Harvard From William James to B. F. Skinner
Monday, May 25, 2020
9:00 AM–9:50 AM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 3, Ballroom AB
Area: PCH; Domain: Theory
Chair: Darlene E. Crone-Todd (Salem State University)
CE Instructor: Darlene E. Crone-Todd, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: SARA SCHECHNER (Harvard University)
Abstract:

In 1892, William James brought Hugo Münsterberg from Freiburg to direct the new, Harvard Psychological Laboratory that James had created in the Philosophy Department. Münsterberg had trained under William Wundt in Leipzig, who had pioneered an experimental method to explore the relationship between mental events and physical experience. The New Psychology banished the old method of introspection. Instead, it relied on highly controlled experiments with equipment borrowed from the domains of physics and physiology. Researchers studied the psychology of the senses, the timing of mental acts, judgement, memory, and attention. Starting with these “prism, pendulum, and chronograph philosophers,” as James called them, this talk will conclude with B. F. Skinner and his experiments on operant conditioning, reinforcement, and learning. Special attention will be paid to early apparatus such as reaction keys, prototype operant chambers, cumulative recorders, and teaching machines. The apparatus, laboratory records, memoranda, and correspondence of James, Munsterberg, and Skinner survive at Harvard University and can be accessed by scholars interested in the development of their thought.

Instruction Level: Basic
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) describe the history of experimental psychology at Harvard University between 1875 and 1965; (2) list the types of research and teaching apparatus used by experimental psychologists William James, Hugo Munsterberg; BF Skinner, and others; (3) state how to gain access to historical scientific instruments and documents in the Harvard Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments and Harvard University Archives.
 
SARA SCHECHNER (Harvard University)

Sara Schechner, Ph.D. is the David P. Wheatland Curator of the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments at Harvard University, where she is also on the faculty of the History of Science Department.  She has served as Secretary of the Scientific Instrument Commission of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science and Technology.  She has published widely on the history of astronomy, scientific instruments, and material culture and has curated numerous exhibitions, including several on the history of psychology.

Schechner earned degrees in physics and the history and philosophy of science from Harvard and Cambridge.  Before returning to Harvard, she was chief curator at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, and curated exhibits for the Smithsonian Institution, the American Astronomical Society, and the American Physical Society.  Schechner’s research, teaching, and exhibition work has earned her many awards.  She is the 2019 recipient of the Paul Bunge Prize from the German Chemical Society and the German Bunsen Society for Physical Chemistry, which is regarded worldwide as the most important honor in the history of scientific instruments.  She has also received the prestigious LeRoy E. Doggett Prize for Historical Astronomy from the American Astronomical Society, the Joseph H. Hazen Education Prize of the History of Science Society, and the Great Exhibitions Award of the British Society for the History of Science.

 
 
B. F. Skinner Lecture Series Paper Session #472
CE Offered: BACB/PSY/QABA
Scaling Up Behavioral Therapy for Public Health: The Case of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Stopping Cigarette Smoking
Monday, May 25, 2020
10:00 AM–10:50 AM
Marriott Marquis, Level M4, Liberty I-L
Area: CSS; Domain: Applied Research
Chair: Thomas G. Szabo (Florida Institute of Technology)
CE Instructor: Thomas G. Szabo, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: JONATHAN BRICKER (University of Washington)
Abstract:

Despite the rise of nicotine vaping and its recent public scares, cigarette smoking remains the single most preventable cause of premature death in the USA and for many other parts of the world. Smoking kills over 7 million people a year. Smoking fits well with the principles of applied behavior analysis because it is a highly repetitious behavior maintained by its consequences. Early applications of functional analysis and conditioning led to promising treatments for helping people stop smoking but as group and individual face-to-face therapies they were hampered high intensity, cost, and low scalability. Fortunately, the rise of digital technologies and telehealth has a recreated the ability for provide behavioral therapies for smoking cessation on a broad scale at lower cost. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a contemporary form of clinical behavior analysis based on Skinner’s philosophy of Radical Behaviorism, is becoming a prominent therapeutic approach to digital and telehealth delivered smoking cessation. ACT teaches functional analysis, present moment awareness, and values-based living to help people cope with urges and stay committed to living smoke free. I will show how my research team translates ACT principles into concrete and highly accessible treatment programs on platforms including telephone-delivered behaviorial coaching, websites, smartphone apps, and chatbots for smoking cessation. This translational research is an iterative process of expert clinician input, user testing, and rapid prototyping. Once developed, we test each of these delivery platforms in both small and large-scale randomized controlled trials comparing the ACT program with standard cognitive behavioral programs. I will share the latest results of these trials and how our interventions have already reached over 50,000 people. I will close with highlighting the future directions of our research, including applications to treatment of obesity.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) describe how Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is scaled up as a broad reaching public health technology intervention; (2) apply certain ACT and contextual behavioral principles for tobacco cessation and other addictive behaviors; (3) discuss latest research findings on ACT for tobacco cessation, and their impact on Washington State-level tobacco policy.
 
JONATHAN BRICKER (University of Washington)

Dr. Jonathan Bricker’s passion is to scale up behavioral therapies into high reach public health intervention programs.  He is an internationally recognized scientific leader in the behavioral therapy called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). He focuses ACT on skills for self-control, particularly for quitting smoking and other addictions. His programs have been developed and tested on many platforms, including apps, chatbots, websites, and telephone coaching that reach thousands of people daily. Rather than encouraging people to ignore cravings, his approach to ACT is to focus on becoming aware of triggers for cravings and choosing not to act on them. His smoking cessation programs have achieved success rates that are double that of other programs—cutting cigarette use by 75 percent. Dr. Bricker has over 85 scientific publication and has received $14 million in US Government NIH grants, predominantly for WebQuit, iCanQuit and the TALK study of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for smoking cessation. His research and expert testimony was instrumental in Washington State passing a law to increase the minimum age of tobacco sales to 21.

He founded and leads the Health And Behavioral Innovations in Technology lab (which goes by the apt acronym: HABIT), which is part of the Public Health Sciences Division, at the Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington. Dr. Bricker’s expertise in his field has led him to his current role of senior editor of the journal, Addiction. His TEDx talk, “The Secret to Self-Control” has been viewed nearly 5 million times, and has been translated into ten languages.

 
 
Invited Paper Session #478
CE Offered: BACB/PSY/QABA — 
Ethics
Countering Countability Culture: A Behavioral Systems Perspective on the Replication Crisis
Monday, May 25, 2020
10:00 AM–10:50 AM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 3, Ballroom AB
Area: OBM; Domain: Theory
Chair: Byron J. Wine (The Faison Center)
CE Instructor: Donald Hantula, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: DONALD HANTULA (Temple University)
Abstract:

In 2005 Ioannidis proclaimed “Why Most Published Research Findings Are False.” RetractionWatch has cataloged over 20,000 scientific papers that have been withdrawn since 2010. The “replication crisis” is not the result of a few bad actors but rather is a systems problem. This presentation reviews “replication crisis” from a behavioral systems analysis perspective, identifies the metatcontogencies of the “countability culture” in academia and research that maintain the problem, and proposes solutions based on open science practices, ethical standards and methodological pluralism, noting that OBM research has been a leader in this regard.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Researchers, scholars, scientists, and graduate students.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) identify the metacontingecies and system variables that contribute to the replication crisis; (2) create a plan for complying with Open Science recommendations in their own research; (3) identify characteristics of poorly reported behavioral research; (4) analyze published behavioral articles for signs of inappropriate reporting; (5) describe the advantages and disadvantages and ethical implications of several current online archiving tools.
 
DONALD HANTULA (Temple University)

Donald Hantula earned undergraduate degrees from Emory University and graduate degrees from University of Notre Dame and is currently with the Department of Psychology, Decision making Laboratory, and Interdisciplinary Program in Applied Behavior Analysis at Temple University. He has previously held academic positions in Occupational Health Promotion at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Human Resource Management at King’s College and Management Information Systems at St. Joseph’s University, and also as Director of Decision, Risk and Management Sciences at the National Science Foundation. He is the immediate past editor of Perspectives on Behavior Science and presently serves as Coordinator of the ABAI Publications Board and on the ABAI VCS board. He has published over 100 articles and chapters and his research interests include finding rational explanations for seemingly irrational decisions, quantitative analysis of behavior, consumer choices for sustainable products and practices, integrating behavioral and digital technology and ethical implications of OBM.

 
 
Invited Tutorial #481
CE Offered: BACB/PSY/QABA
The Nurture Consilience: Evolving Societies That Work for Everyone
Monday, May 25, 2020
10:00 AM–10:50 AM
Marriott Marquis, Level M2, Marquis Ballroom 6
Area: SCI; Domain: Theory
BACB/PSY/QABA CE Offered. CE Instructor: Anthony Biglan, Ph.D.
Chair: Cynthia J. Pietras (Western Michigan University)
Presenting Authors: : ANTHONY BIGLAN (Oregon Research Institute)
Abstract:

This presentation will argue that what might be called “The Nurture Consilience” provides a framework for guiding the further evolution of our societies. E. O. Wilson describes consilience as “the linking of facts and fact-based theory across disciplines to create a common groundwork of explanation.” I will prevent evidence from evolutionary biology, behavior analysis, development, clinical, and social psychology, and medicine about the nurturing conditions that humans need to thrive and the toxic conditions that undermine wellbeing and promote the development of a constellation of psychological, behavioral, and health problems. Research has identified programs, policies, and practices that replace toxic conditions with environments that limit opportunities and influences for problem behavior, richly reinforce diverse forms of prosocial behavior, and cultivate psychological flexibility. However, advocacy for free market economics has corrupted virtually every sector of society; practices in business, health care, education, criminal justice, media, and government have been selected by their contribution to the wealth of a small segment of the population; the majority of people have been harmed. I will describe how we can evolve societies that foster general wellbeing, by creating contingencies that select practices that minimize harm and contribute to the general wellbeing.

Instruction Level: Basic
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) state the four key features of nurturing environments; (2) describe the consilience among the evidence from evolutionary theory and behavior analysis, including the role of selection by consequences in the development of prosocial and antisocial behavior; (3) describe at least three evidence-based school and/or family interventions that can prevent multiple psychological and behavioral problems; (4) describe the evolution of corporate practices and the way in which we might evolve a political and economic system that does a better job of ensuring the wellbeing of every person; (5) describe a public health framework for the regulation of business practices.
 
ANTHONY BIGLAN (Oregon Research Institute)
Anthony Biglan, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist at Oregon Research Institute. He is the author of The Nurture Effect: How the Science of Human Behavior Can Improve our Lives and Our World.   Dr. Biglan has been conducting research on the development and prevention of child and adolescent problem behavior for the past 30 years. His work has included studies of the risk and protective factors associated with tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use; high-risk sexual behavior; and antisocial behavior. He has conducted numerous experimental evaluations of interventions to prevent tobacco use both through school-based programs and community-wide interventions. And, he has evaluated interventions to prevent high-risk sexual behavior, antisocial behavior, and reading failure.   In recent years, his work has shifted to more comprehensive interventions that have the potential to prevent the entire range of child and adolescent problems. He and colleagues at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences published a book summarizing the epidemiology, cost, etiology, prevention, and treatment of youth with multiple problems (Biglan et al., 2004). He is a former president of the Society for Prevention Research. He was a member of the Institute of Medicine Committee on Prevention, which released its report in 2009 documenting numerous evidence-based preventive interventions that can prevent multiple problems. As a member of Oregon’s Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission, he is helping to develop a strategic plan for implementing comprehensive evidence-based interventions throughout Oregon.   Information about Dr. Biglan’s publications can be found at http://www.ori.org/scientists/anthony_biglan.
 
 
Invited Paper Session #491
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP — 
Ethics
Diversity submission Cultural Responsiveness, Social Justice, and Behavior Analysis
Monday, May 25, 2020
11:00 AM–11:50 AM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 3, Ballroom AB
Area: DEI/CSS; Domain: Service Delivery
Chair: Carol Pilgrim (University of North Carolina Wilmington)
CE Instructor: Shahla Ala'i, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: SHAHLA ALA'I (University of North Texas)
Abstract:

The voice and inclusion of people of diverse cultural identities is expanding within the world and within our discipline. This expansion presents both tensions and possibilities. Ideally, applied behavior analysts should be developing increasingly more cultural responsiveness in all aspects of research and practice. That is not the case. Cultural responsiveness is closely yoked with lived experience, social justice, and the kyriarchy. The purpose of this presentation is to explore worldviews in the context of coloniality and to then relate this to our disciplinary and personal responses to power and efforts to contribute to a more socially just world. This includes consideration of global trends, the aims and history of our discipline, womanist and determinist worldviews, and ethics. The presentation will close with a discussion of pathways to cultural responsiveness and social justice.

Instruction Level: Advanced
Target Audience:

Behavior analysts interested in culture, social justice, applied research, practice

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) identify the critical features of cultural responsiveness; (2) briefly identify the context for cultural responsiveness (global trends, coloniality, aims and history of our discipline, womanist and determinist worldviews, and ethics); (3) discuss pathways for advancement of cultural responsiveness in behavior analytic research and practice.
 
SHAHLA ALA'I (University of North Texas)
Shahla Ala’i received her B.S. from Southern Illinois University and her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Kansas. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Behavior Analysis at the University of North Texas (UNT) and the director of the North Texas Autism Project (NTAP). NTAP is a service, training and research program working in cooperation with several global partners, with applied anthropologists, and with Easter Seals North Texas. Shahla is also a member of a social justice collective at UNT. This is an interdisciplinary effort designed to create a space for applied research and activism in social justice and includes faculty and students from Woman’s and Gender Studies, Applied Anthropology and Behavior Analysis. Shahla teaches classes on ethics, autism intervention, parent training, applied research methods, and behavior change techniques. Shahla served on the governing board of the Behavior Analysis Certification Board (BACB) and as a subject matter expert on supervision and on ethics. Shahla currently serves on the ABAI Practice Board and the APBA Diversity Ad Hoc Task Force. She has published and presented research on ethics in early intervention, play and social skills, family harmony, change agent training, and evidence-based practice. Her research is applied and grounded in a commitment to love and science. She has trained hundreds of master’s level behavior analysts who have gone on to serve families and communities with honor. Shahla has over four decades of experience working with families, particularly those from non-dominant cultural backgrounds. She travels and presents her work nationally and internationally to both professional and lay audiences. She was awarded an Onassis Foundation Fellowship for her work with families, was the recipient of UNT’s prestigious student selected “Fessor Graham" teaching award, and received the Texas Association for Behavior Analysis Career Contributions Award in 2019.
 
 
Panel #496
CE Offered: BACB/QABA
Hello! I Am Your Student, Have You Noticed Me?
Monday, May 25, 2020
11:00 AM–11:50 AM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 1, Salon G
Area: DDA; Domain: Service Delivery
CE Instructor: Shelby Gundling, M.Ed.
Chair: Shelby Gundling (Central Reach)
MEGAN MILLER (#dobetter Pod)
JENNIFER LAMARCA (Applied Behavior Center for Autism)
KRISTINA ZACCARIA (CLM Center of Excellence)
Abstract:

Behavior analysts frequently say "the rat is always right" or "the learner is always right" but do not always focus their attention on the behavior and responding of the student in the moment to determine how to apply the science of behavior analysis. Members of this panel will discuss how behavior analysts can encourage more responsive teaching with their learners by developing more flexible protocols, attending to learner behavior, developing creative protocols for teaching receptive language skills, and how to respond to data using the Standard Celeration Chart to adjust teaching procedures. The panel will concluded by providing ttendees with the opportunity to ask the panel questions relating to attending to learner responding.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

This panel is intended for individuals with at least 2 years of certification experience who are responsible for making decisions about their clients in the moment and training others to do the same.

Learning Objectives: Participants will be able to explain at least 1 reason why it is important to respond to students in the moment of intervention Participants will be able to explain at least 1 way to teach non behavior analysts how to respond to a learner in the moment Participants will be able to describe how the standard celeration chart can be used within session to make decisions about intervention
Keyword(s): flexible teaching, learning barriers, progressive, responsive teaching
 
 
Invited Paper Session #497
CE Offered: BACB/QABA/NASP
Behavior-Based Safety Driving: Improve Your Driving With the B-BS Protocol
Monday, May 25, 2020
11:00 AM–11:50 AM
Marriott Marquis, Level M4, Liberty I-L
Area: OBM; Domain: Applied Research
Chair: Nicole Gravina (University of Florida)
CE Instructor: Fabio Tosolin, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: FABIO TOSOLIN (A.A.R.B.A. - Association for the Advancement of Radical Behavior Analysis)
Abstract:

In recent years technological progress has made it possible to design more and more modern vehicles that satisfy new safety standards required by society and law. Despite this and the many awareness-raising campaigns aimed at promoting safer driving in line with contemporary society values, the number of driving accidents has been far from zero. One reason is surely because very few have so far considered the matter from a behavioral point of view. The development of an app to deliver consequences to drivers is an essential but small part of a wide-ranging project that must necessarily involve all the relevant stakeholders, if we really want to impact our driving habits.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

OBMers, entrepreneurs with truck-fleets, HSE and logistics managers

Learning Objectives: PENDING
 
FABIO TOSOLIN (A.A.R.B.A. - Association for the Advancement of Radical Behavior Analysis)
Fabio Tosolin is the behavior analyst and consultant that since the 1980s has been introducing, spreading and applying Behavior Analysis and Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) principles both in Italy and Europe. In 1985, he founded his own consulting company, FT&A, that is specialized in Performance Management, Learning Technologies and Behavior-Based Safety (B-BS), for the last of which he’s also a referent of European level. His company counts hundreds of PM and B-BS processes implemented in plants and construction sites in Italy and around the world. He is currently professor of Human Factor in HSEQ Management at the Safety Engineering Master’s Degree course, Faculty of Industrial Processes, at Polytechnic of Milano and president of the Italian Associate Chapter of ABAI, made of both the oldest and largest Italian Behavior Analysis Scientific Societies (AARBA and AIAMC). Since 2003 he’s also chair of the European Scientific Conference on OBM, PM & B-BS, held by AARBA. In 2019 he received the SABA Award for his significant contribution to the international dissemination/development of Behavior Analysis.
 
 
Invited Paper Session #499
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
Skill Acquisition Learning Arrangements: How the Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
Monday, May 25, 2020
11:00 AM–11:50 AM
Marriott Marquis, Level M4, Independence A-C
Area: TBA; Domain: Applied Research
Chair: R. Douglas Greer (Columbia University Teachers College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences)
CE Instructor: Daniel Fienup, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: DANIEL FIENUP (Teachers College, Columbia University)
Abstract:

This talk will discuss learning arrangements – or the combination of instructional components that affect skill acquisition. Often, skill acquisition programming is developed and evaluated by comparing some instructional package to no instructional package (baseline responding). This is useful toward developing technologies that are likely to produce the intended outcomes. Many years of such research has produced a large “toolbox” of applied behavior analysis intervention approaches. But, for an instructor working with a specific learner, what combination of instructional components should the instructor choose? This talk will discuss the comparative effectiveness of different learning arrangements and instructional components that promote both effective and efficient learning. Research that will be discussed includes components such as trial arrangements and mastery criterioa and how these components differentially affect skill acquisition.

Instruction Level: Basic
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: PENDING
 
DANIEL FIENUP (Teachers College, Columbia University)

Daniel M. Fienup is an Associate Professor of Applied Behavior Analysis at Teachers College, Columbia University. He received his Master’s in Applied Behavior Analysis from Southern Illinois University and his Ph.D. in School Psychology from Illinois State University. Dr. Fienup and his students conduct research on instructional design and educational performance. Dr. Fienup is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Behavioral Education and The Analysis of Verbal Behavior. He also serves on the editorial board for Behavior Analysis in Practice, the Psychological Record, Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice, Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, and Behavior Development. He serves on the Licensed Behavior Analyst New York state board and is a past board member of the New York State Association for Behavior Analysis.

 
 
Invited Tutorial #510
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
Building Independence and Complex Social Play in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders Using Photographic Activity Schedules and Social Scripts
Monday, May 25, 2020
11:00 AM–12:50 PM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 2, Room 207A
Area: PRA; Domain: Service Delivery
PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP CE Offered. CE Instructor: Thomas Higbee, Ph.D.
Chair: Sarah Frampton (May Institute, Inc. )
Presenting Authors: : THOMAS HIGBEE (Utah State University)
Abstract:

Many students with autism and other developmental disabilities have difficulty sequencing their own behavior during free-choice situations. Rather, they rely on adults to prompt them to engage in particular activities. Many do not interact appropriately with play materials or may select one activity and engage in it for an extended period of time. Photographic activity schedules have been shown to be an effective tool to teach children to sequence their own behavior and transition smoothly between multiple activities. Children learn to follow the visual cues in the activity schedule to make transitions instead of relying on adult-provided prompts. Activity schedules also provide a context for teaching basic and complex choice-making behavior. As children develop verbal behavior, social scripts can also be added and then later faded to promote social interaction. Activity schedules have been used successfully in a variety of settings with both children and adults with various disabilities. They are easy to use and can be adapted to most environments. In the present tutorial, participants will learn how to use activity schedules with clients/students as well as learn about recent research on using these techniques to promote complex social play.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Practitioners and applied researchers.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) describe the prerequisite skills for using photographic activity schedules; (2) describe how to use photographic activity schedules to promote independent behavior; (3) describe how to use photographic activity schedules to promote choice making; (4) describe how to use social scripting and script fading to promote spontaneous language; (5) describe how to use photographic activity schedules and script fading to promote complex social play.
 
THOMAS HIGBEE (Utah State University)

Dr. Thomas S. Higbee is a Professor and Interim Department Head in the Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation at Utah State University and Executive Director of the Autism Support Services: Education, Research, and Training (ASSERT) program, an early intensive behavioral intervention program for children with autism that he founded in 2003. He is a doctoral-level Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA-D) and a Licensed Behavior Analyst in the state of Utah. He is also chair of the Disability Disciplines doctoral program at Utah State University. His research focuses on the development of effective educational and behavioral interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders and related disabilities as well as the development of effective training strategies for teaching parents and professionals to implement effective interventions. He is a former associate editor for the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA) and the European Journal of Behavior Analysis. Dr. Higbee is committed to the dissemination of effective behavioral interventions and has helped to create intensive behavior analytic preschool and school programs for children with autism and related disorders in Brazil, Russia, Portugal, and throughout his home state of Utah. He is the past president of the Utah Association for Behavior Analysis (UtABA) and has served as a member of the Practice Board of the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) and the Psychologist Licensing Board of the state of Utah.

 
 
Invited Paper Session #511
CE Offered: BACB/PSY/QABA — 
Ethics
Diversity submission Management of Well-Being in Organizations and Beyond
Monday, May 25, 2020
12:00 PM–12:50 PM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 3, Ballroom AB
Area: DEI; Domain: Service Delivery
Chair: Carol Pilgrim (University of North Carolina Wilmington)
CE Instructor: Ramona Houmanfar, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: RAMONA HOUMANFAR (University of Nevada, Reno)
Abstract: A growing body of scientific evidence suggests implicit biases influence ways our actions may affect others to the extent that may favor some and detract from others. Biases can be deleterious and throw decisions off course just enough to harm others (e.g., women and minorities) or unjustifiably protect special interests. Moreover, the numerous examples of ways diversity can promote organizational success and quality of healthcare have generated interests of organizational leadership in relation to bias and diversity across industries. In many ways, leaders’ communication and decision-making shape the interlocking behavioral contingencies, aggregate products (i.e. metacontingency), and the behavior topographies of consumers (i.e., cultural practices). Simply stated, leaders’ design and implementation of contingencies can bear positive or negative influences on the wellbeing of the organizational members plus the external environment (including the physical and social environment). This presentation provides an overview of ways behavior science can contribute to the design of healthy environments that promote well-being of workers and consumers in human service industry.
Instruction Level: Basic
Target Audience:

Leaders, managers, organizational members, and consumers in human service industry.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) describe the foundation (concepts, principles, methodology) underlying contingency analysis at the cultural level of selection; (2) discuss the behavior analytic account of implicit bias as related to emerging socio-cultural issues; (3) list behaviors and associated outcomes that align with a behavior analytic discussion of wellbeing.
 
RAMONA HOUMANFAR (University of Nevada, Reno)
Dr. Ramona A. Houmanfar is Professor of Psychology and the Director of the Behavior Analysis Program at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). She currently serves as the trustee of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies, Chair of the Organizational Behavior Management Section of Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies, and editorial board members of the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, and Behavior & Social Issues. Dr. Houmanfar recently completed her seven-year term as the editor of Journal of Organizational Behavior Management. She has served as the former senior co-chair of the Association for Behavior Analysis International, Director of the Organizational Behavior Management Network and President of the Nevada Association for Behavior Analysis.
Dr. Houmanfar has published over seventy peer reviewed articles and chapters, delivered more than 100 presentations at regional, national, and international conferences in the areas of behavioral systems analysis, cultural behavior analysis, leadership in organizations, rule governance, communication networks, instructional design, and bilingual repertoire analysis and learning. Her expertise in behavioral systems analysis and cultural behavior analysis have also guided her research associated with implicit bias, cooperation, situational awareness, decision making, and value based governance. Dr. Houmanfar has published three co-edited books titled “Organizational Change” (Context Press), "Understanding Complexity in Organizations", and “Leadership & Cultural Change (Taylor & Francis Group).
 
 
B. F. Skinner Lecture Series Paper Session #521
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
Understanding Process Behavior Using Lean Six Sigma Techniques
Monday, May 25, 2020
12:00 PM–12:50 PM
Marriott Marquis, Level M4, Liberty I-L
Area: OBM; Domain: Service Delivery
Chair: Byron J. Wine (The Faison Center)
CE Instructor: Byron J. Wine, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: JENNIFER HOOKS (Medical University of South Carolina)
Abstract:

Behavior can be defined as anything a person does. Understanding everyday processes and why we do things the way we do is often not analyzed but is taken for granted as this is just how we do it. Lean Six Sigma can be intimidating to those who are just learning about the concept due to the overwhelming amount of information on this topic. But it doesn’t have to be! Lean Six Sigma is a process improvement methodology designed to eliminate problems, remove waste and inefficiency, and improve working conditions to provide a better response to customers' needs. Currently healthcare, finance, manufacturing, IT and other field are using Lean Six Sigma. Even complete strangers to Lean Six Sigma can gain a working knowledge of how the methodology works. They need only develop a basic Lean Six Sigma literacy by becoming acquainted with the fundamentals. This session will help start your journey towards becoming successful using Lean Six Sigma with easy-to-understand methods and tools that can be applied to behavior analytic principles for overall business process improvement, quality management and healthy behavior change.

Instruction Level: Basic
Target Audience:

Anyone interested in learning about Lean Six Sigma and how to apply it to their practice.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) define Lean principles; (2) identify the eight wastes in work processes; (3) discuss the five-step DMAIC model as a framework to organize process improvement activities.
 
JENNIFER HOOKS (Medical University of South Carolina)

Jennifer is the Director of the Performance Improvement Department at the Medical University of South Carolina and a retired Air Force E9 Chief Master Sergeant with 32 years of clinical, administrative, and performance improvement experience in hospital, ambulatory care, and dental facilities in a variety of settings worldwide.

Jennifer is an accomplished trainer and her practical experience has taken her into many types of industries including healthcare, supply chain, service organizations, aerospace, and manufacturing. She is an invited speaker to numerous conferences, webinars, and symposiums.

She supports MUSC’s executive leadership in the deployment of Lean Six Sigma throughout the organization. Jennifer manages Six Sigma Black and Green Belts, develops and teaches curriculum for Lean Six Sigma education, drives system-wide projects, and customizes Lean Six Sigma methodology to best suit MUSC’s needs.

She is an adjunct faculty member in MUSC College of Health Professions and College of Nursing. She has an MBA in Human Resources and BS in Occupational Education Health Administration. Jennifer is a certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt and also holds a LEAN Sensei Certification from Villanova University. Jennifer is a member of the American Society for Quality (ASQ), the Institute of Industrial and System Engineers (IISE), Society of Health Systems (SHS), Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and Project Management Institute (PMI). She also serves on the American Quality Institute Green Belt International Standard Technical Committee.

 
 
Invited Paper Session #552
CE Offered: BACB/PSY/QABA
There’s a Time and a Place for Everything
Monday, May 25, 2020
3:00 PM–3:50 PM
Marriott Marquis, Level M2, Marquis Ballroom 6
Area: EAB; Domain: Basic Research
Chair: Karen M. Lionello-DeNolf (Assumption College)
CE Instructor: Sarah Cowie, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: SARAH COWIE (University of Auckland, New Zealand)
Abstract: When the environment around us changes with regularity, certain events come to predict others; the sign at the café tells me coffee will be forthcoming, whereas the line of people outside the café suggests coffee will not occur in the immediate future. These signpost events come to exert control over behavior, at least when they point to currently important events: In the morning, we follow signposts to coffee, but at dinnertime, we follow signposts to food. In a complex world, signposts are crucial for adaptation to our environment, and for choice of a future that might contain maximal pleasure and minimal pain—that is, signposts help us to behave appropriately. Yet some signposts fail to control our behavior, even when they predict favorable future conditions more reliably than do other signposts. Why do some events come to exert stimulus control over behavior, while others do not? This talk explores basic research that highlights the importance of experience, affordances—the ability to discriminate order, time, and location—and dispositions—the wants and needs of the organism that may be satisfied by the environment—in the development of effective signposts. We discuss how imperfect discrimination causes signposts lose predictive power, and exert weaker control over behavior. Finally, we turn to misbehavior and bad habits, and consider how these basic research findings might help us to understand—and perhaps even change—apparently surprising, sometimes maladaptive control by signposts in the natural world.
Instruction Level: Basic
Target Audience:

Basic and applied behavior analysts with an interest in stimulus control.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) discuss the impact of discrimination and generalization processes and the degree to which current environmental events exert stimulus control over behavior; (2) discuss hypotheses about how phylogenetic and personal history determine the degree to which stimuli exert control over behavior; (3) understand how the likely future, as extrapolated from the past, determines the division of control among signposts.
 
SARAH COWIE (University of Auckland, New Zealand)
Sarah Cowie obtained her Ph.D. in 2014 at the University of Auckland, under the supervision of Professor Michael Davison and Professor Doug Elliffe. Sarah’s research explores how our behavior depends on past, present, and potential events.
 
 
Panel #559
CE Offered: BACB/QABA — 
Supervision
How Do We Ensure Treatment Integrity in International Markets With Less Than 4,000 BCBAs Attempting to Serve the Needs of Nearly 20 Million People With Autism Spectrum Disorder?
Monday, May 25, 2020
3:00 PM–3:50 PM
Marriott Marquis, Level M4, Archives
Area: TBA/CSS; Domain: Translational
CE Instructor: Jennifer M. Gillis, M.A.
Chair: Karen Chung (Special Learning, Inc. )
KIM MADAR KLEMEK (Global Autism Project)
JENNIFER M. GILLIS (Binghamton University)
SVETLANA IYER (Stepping Stones Center, Bangalore, India)
Abstract:

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 1 in 160 (0.6%) children around the world has Autism. Based upon prevalence rates published by a small number of countries around the world, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that the autism prevalence rate for international markets may range from 1% to 2%. Applying the conservative WHO estimate of 1 in 160 to the 2.2 Billion children in the world (per Unicef), there are nearly 14 million children in the world with autism. Adding adolescents and adults to that figure may be as high as 20 to 30 million people in the world living with autism. Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is the globally agreed-upon gold standard for autism intervention. There are less than 40,000 Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA), who are experts in implementing behavior analysis in applied settings in the world. According to the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB), the international credentialing body that governs practitioners of Applied Behavior Analysis -- BCBAs (including BCBA-D and BCaBA) and RBTs -- less than 10% of BCBAs (et al.) practice outside the U.S. The current reality is that there are less than 4,000 BCBAs available to serve the needs of nearly 18 to 19 million people with autism living outside the United States. Faced with these seemingly insurmountable numbers, it would be very easy for international BCBAs to throw treatment integrity out the window. However, a great majority of international BCBAs are committed to preserving the integrity and efficacy of ABA services. International BCBAs with a dual objective of maintaining treatment integrity while helping the masses are faced with a herculean task, some of which can be tackled with a scalable Global Supervision Framework. During this panel discussion, we will introduce the Global Supervision Framework, the foundation of which relies on a group supervision model designed to maximize existing resources to scale while maintaining treatment integrity. The panel, comprised of BCBAs whose primary practice is located in India; a BCBA who builds sustainable clinical capacity with fifteen pre-existing centres in thirteen different countries as well as two international verified course sequences;; and a faculty member whose primary body of work includes providing support to BCBA practitioners who support individuals with autism across the lifespan. As part of the discussion, we will present results of a research study conducted in partnership with Stepping Stones Center and Bingham University on the positive impacts of systematically incorporating structured journal assignments (i.e. Journal Club) in group supervision settings with behavior technicians / RBTs as a means to increase clinical competency. We will close the discussion by presenting examples of group supervision models with demonstrated efficacy in center-based (in-person) and remote (telehealth) settings. Upon the conclusion of this panel discussion, learners will be able to: (1) Explain the demand for ABA services in international markets; (2) Discuss 3 to 5 key challenges to maintaining treatment integrity when providing ABA services in international markets; (3) Discuss 3 to 5 key barriers to providing effective supervision in international markets; (4) Explain the Global Supervision Framework; (5) Discuss the benefits of incorporating a Journal Club to group supervision; (6) Become familiar with effective group supervision models used in international markets for both in-person supervision and telehealth supervision.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

BCaBA, BCBA, BCBA-D

Learning Objectives: (1) Explain the demand for ABA services in international markets; (2) Discuss 3 to 5 key challenges to maintaining treatment integrity when providing ABA services in international markets; (3) Discuss 3 to 5 key barriers to providing effective supervision in international markets; (4) Explain the Global Supervision Framework; (5) Discuss the benefits of incorporating a Journal Club to group supervision; (6) Become familiar with effective group supervision models used in international markets for both in-person supervision and telehealth supervision.
 
 
Invited Paper Session #561
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
Bidirectional Naming and Problem Solving
Monday, May 25, 2020
3:00 PM–3:50 PM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 3, Ballroom AB
Area: VBC; Domain: Basic Research
Chair: Sarah A. Lechago (University of Houston-Clear Lake)
CE Instructor: Caio F. Miguel, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: CAIO F. MIGUEL (California State University, Sacramento)
Abstract: We often solve problems by engaging in mediating strategies such as talking to ourselves. In order to accurately use and respond to these strategies, we must understand what we are saying. The term bidirectional naming (BiN) has been used to describe the integration of both listener and speaker behaviors that leads to speaking with understanding. In this talk, I will describe a series of studies showing that in the absence of either speaker or listener behaviors, participants often fail to solve problems in the form of matching-to-sample and categorization tasks. These results suggest that to solve complex tasks participants must be verbal. Thus, I will propose that the BiN repertoire is one of the most important skills learned during language development and must be prioritized in early intensive behavioral intervention.
Instruction Level: Basic
Target Audience:

Basic and applied researchers, clinicians.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) distinguish between tasting and naming; (2) explain how bidirectional naming is developed through typical child-caregiver interaction; (3) discuss how derived stimulus relations research conducted with adults may be influenced by BiN.
 
CAIO F. MIGUEL (California State University, Sacramento)
 
 
Invited Paper Session #588
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
Small Steps Toward a Complex and Integrated Reading and Writing Repertoire
Monday, May 25, 2020
4:00 PM–4:50 PM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 2, Room 207A
Area: VBC; Domain: Applied Research
Chair: Einar T. Ingvarsson (Virginia Institute of Autism)
CE Instructor: Einar T. Ingvarsson, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: DEISY DE SOUZA (Universidade Federal de São Carlos)
Abstract:

Reading and writing skills refer to a network of equivalence relations between stimuli (e.g., printed words, dictated words, and pictures) and between stimuli and responses (e.g., picture naming, textual responding, writing, etc.). This conceptual framework has served as a foundation to the development of assessment tools and teaching procedures. Concerning the assessment of repertoires, this presentation will describe empirical data on the network of S-S and R-S relations, as measured by an online instrument, comprised of 15 tasks assessing auditory-visual and visual-visual matching-to-sample, picture naming, reading and writing skills. The goal was to characterize the performance of beginning readers. The instrument was administered to approximately 2300 students (6- to 12-year-olds), and results suggest that the matching skills were significantly correlated with textual behavior and dictation-taking. An "integration" index showed, as predicted by the stimulus equivalence paradigm, that accuracy increased as the entire repertoire developed. The integration index may be a useful tool for the prediction and evaluation of the effects of teaching programs for establishing this repertoire in non-readers. The presentation will also summarize the main results of two procedures designed to teach arbitrary relations between dictated words and printed words, namely, the exclusion procedure and the stimulus-pairing with orientation response procedure. Both procedures can be easily implemented via computers, and the results have shown that they can be effectively used for the systematic teaching of a large set of the target relations.

Instruction Level: Basic
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: PENDING
 
DEISY DE SOUZA (Universidade Federal de São Carlos)

Deisy de Souza is Full Professor at the Psychology Department, Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar), Brazil, where she teaches behavior analysis in graduate and undergraduate courses in Psychology, and in Special Education. She obtained her Ph.D. in experimental psychology at Universidade de São Paulo (USP), under the direction of Carolina Bori, and held a post-doctoral position at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, working with Charlie Catania. She has published articles and book chapters on non-human and human relational learning, including studies applying the stimulus equivalence paradigm to investigate the acquisition of symbolic relations involved in reading and writing, and in developing curricula to teach those skills. She is past-Editor of the Brazilian Journal of Behavior Analysis (BJBA), past-Associate Editor of Acta Comportamentalia, and she is currently a member of the Board of Editors of JEAB. She was designated as ABAI Fellow (2018) and is the recipient of the 2015 Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Experimental Analysis of Human Behavior by the Experimental Analysis of Human Behavior Special Interest Group.

 
 
Invited Tutorial #590
CE Offered: BACB/PSY/QABA — 
Ethics
Introduction to a Behavioral Analysis of Cognitive Loss and Functional Decline
Monday, May 25, 2020
4:00 PM–5:50 PM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 3, Ballroom AB
Area: PRA; Domain: Service Delivery
BACB/PSY/QABA CE Offered. CE Instructor: Claudia Drossel, Ph.D.
Chair: Cynthia M. Anderson (May Institute)
Presenting Authors: : CLAUDIA DROSSEL (Eastern Michigan University)
Abstract:

Cognitive loss and associated functional decline can reflect many different physiological processes, some of which are progressive and neurodegenerative, others stable or even reversible. Behavior analysts, through their measurement-based practice, are uniquely positioned to detect fluctuations in proficiencies and skill levels that are potentially indicative of decline, and to implement assessment and intervention. The goals of this tutorial are twofold: (1) to provide an overview of neurocognitive disorders, such as those from Alzheimer’s, Lewy body disease, or stroke, and prominent risk factors, such as age and an already compromised nervous system due to prior traumatic brain injury, chronic disease, lifestyle factors, or particular preexisting neurodevelopmental disorders; and (2) to offer a practical step-by-step guide to ruling out reversible conditions, ascertain the appropriate level of social and physical support, and address potential behavioral and emotional changes. Video and audio examples will be provided for training purposes, to illustrate the heterogeneity of individuals’ reactions to functional decline, the difficulties of family members to follow behavioral plans or adapt to their loved one’s loss of skills or repertoires, and the need for medical care navigation. The tutorial will introduce cognitive loss and functional decline as a high-need specialty practice area, amenable to workforce development in behavior analysis.

Instruction Level: Basic
Target Audience:

Students; behavior analysts interested in an introduction to the specialty area or in expanding their practice; behavior analysts encountering individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders and decline; and family care partners.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) differentiate major neurocognitive disorders and their characteristics; (2) list two risk factors for the development of neurocognitive disorders; (3) broadly conceptualize behavioral changes in the context of cognitive decline from a behavior analytic perspective; (4) name one document that describes training benchmarks; (5) list three general steps involved in best practices for the assessment and management of behavioral changes and preventing/reducing excess disability.
 
CLAUDIA DROSSEL (Eastern Michigan University)
 
 
Invited Paper Session #594
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
Operant Conditioning to Address Poverty and Substance Use Disorders
Monday, May 25, 2020
5:00 PM–5:50 PM
Marriott Marquis, Level M2, Marquis Ballroom 6
Area: BPN; Domain: Applied Research
Chair: Sally L. Huskinson (University of Mississippi Medical Center)
CE Instructor: August Holtyn, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: AUGUST HOLTYN (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine)
Abstract:

Substance use disorders, like many health problems, are concentrated in people who live in poverty. This presentation will review research on the application of operant conditioning to address the interrelated problems of poverty and substance use disorders. Our research has clearly shown that operant reinforcement using financial incentives can promote abstinence from heroin and cocaine in low-income adults with substance use disorders. The use of operant conditioning to reduce poverty is less well-established. However, our research on an employment-based intervention called the therapeutic workplace suggests that operant conditioning could promote behaviors that may facilitate the transition out of poverty. In the therapeutic workplace, unemployed adults with substance use disorders are paid to work but must provide drug-negative urine samples or take prescribed medication to maximize pay. The therapeutic workplace offers a job-skills training phase and an employment phase through which participants progress sequentially. Our research has shown that employment-based reinforcement within the therapeutic workplace can promote drug abstinence, medication adherence, job seeking, and employment. The therapeutic workplace could provide an effective framework for broader anti-poverty programs, but more research is needed to determine whether such interventions consistently reduce poverty, and how best to implement these at scale.

Instruction Level: Basic
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) describe how operant conditioning can be used to promote drug abstinence and adherence to medications; (2) describe the main features of the therapeutic workplace; (3) describe how the therapeutic workplace uses contingent access to employment (i.e., employment-based reinforcement) to promote drug abstinence, medication adherence, job seeking, and work.
 
AUGUST HOLTYN (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine)
August Holtyn is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Associate Director of the Center for Learning and Health at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Holtyn earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in psychology at West Virginia University under the mentorship of Dr. Michael Perone. In 2015, she joined the faculty in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine after completing a post-doctoral fellowship there in behavioral pharmacology under the mentorship of Dr. Kenneth Silverman. Dr. Holtyn’s work is focused on the development of contingency management interventions for the treatment of opioid, cocaine, and alcohol use disorders. Her primary lines of research have focused on development and evaluation of remotely-delivered financial incentive interventions to promote drug abstinence and medication adherence in substance use disorder treatment, and the therapeutic workplace intervention to promote drug abstinence and employment in adults living in poverty. Her work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.
 
 
Special Event #610
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
Diversity submission Presidential Address: Compassionate Behaviorism
Monday, May 25, 2020
6:00 PM–6:50 PM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 3, Ballroom AB
Instruction Level: Intermediate
Chair: Peter R. Killeen (Arizona State University)
CE Instructor: Peter R. Killeen, Ph.D.
 
Diversity submission 

Presidential Address: Compassionate Behaviorism

Abstract:

Many are concerned about the state of the world. The effects of climate change, political polarization, and backlash to social movements that cultivate equality threaten our future. Even outside and within our own discipline, conflict continues. Many of us joined ABAI because we support the vision that the problems of the world can be solved through the principles of behavior analysis. Can they?

Perhaps. Many of the answers to the world’s problems still reside within the discipline; indeed, our own community of behavior scientists and behavior analysts have continued to generate some of the solutions. However, seeking perspective outside of the discipline to understand the complex contingencies of social groups, networks, and organizations is also critical. An integration of these viewpoints is the foundation for a compassionate behaviorism—a philosophy that includes the action and verbal behavior of humility, behavioral flexibility, self-control, perspective taking, and empathy. These terms will be carefully defined and their functions discussed. Compassionate behavioral action can be and should be practiced at multiple levels: toward our earth, towards outsiders of our verbal communities, to those within our verbal communities, and even towards ourselves.

 
ERIN RASMUSSEN (Idaho State University)
 
Dr. Erin B. Rasmussen received her Ph.D. in the Experimental Analysis of Behavior with a minor in behavioral pharmacology and toxicology from Auburn University under the direction of Dr. Christopher Newland. She is currently a professor of psychology at Idaho State University. The work from her animal and human laboratories has generated over 50 peer-reviewed publications. Most recently, she conducts research on the behavioral economics of food reinforcement in the context of obesity. Her latest series of studies, funded by the NIH, examines delay discounting in food insecure populations. She has served on the Science Board of the ABAI and is a past Associate Editor of Perspectives on Behavior Science (formerly The Behavior Analyst).
 
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students. 

 
 

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