Association for Behavior Analysis International

The science of behavior analysis has been applied to a myriad of human behaviors, including those of a sexual nature. The purpose of this presentation is to explore several research strategies for analyzing sexually-related behavior, including number of condoms taken in a bar, implicit attitudes about sexual assault survivors, and rights and responsibilities of behavior analysts working with LGBTQ-identified clients. Presenters will discuss resulting data and their implications, as well as directions for future research, instruction, and applied projects.

The present study employed a repeated-measures, between-groups design to assess implicit and explicit attitudes of members from the general population and graduate students ages 23-65 about sexual assault survivors. Implicit attitudes were assessed using the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) as a pretest, posttest, and follow-up measure to examine participants' attitudes about what role a sexual assault survivor plays in the rape. That is, is she to blame given the following situational variables: drunk, showing skin, in private with a man, it is nighttime, sober, modestly dressed, in public with a man, or it is daytime. Additionally, a questionnaire examined explicit attitudes related to the same scenarios and facts about sexual assault at pretest and posttest. Results of the questionnaire remained consistent across time for participants in both the control and treatment groups but only those in the treatment group showed increases from pretest to posttest on the open-ended response section that tested facts about sexual assault. On the IRAP, all participants in the treatment group showed decreased victim blaming from pretest to posttest, as did two of three participants in the control group. It is unclear whether the educational intervention had an effect on implicit attitudes in the treatment group, or if practice effects or exposure to terms led to the decrease. These results, limitations, and areas of future research will also be discussed.

This study examined the effect of prompt salience and condom type on the number of condoms taken in a gay bar. The research design was an alternating treatments design within a multiple treatments reversal. Available condoms alternated every evening between Lifestyles Ultra Sensitive and Ultra Lubricated during the following conditions: baseline, poster prompts, and lighted dispenser. Overall, 604 condoms were distributed across twelve weeks. The data suggest that condom type had little to no effect on the number of condoms taken, and that the prompt interventions were not as effective as when the condom dispenser was available alone. This research was not consistent with existing literature suggesting that prompting procedures increase the number of condoms taken. Prompt salience in this bar appeared to be the greatest factor in why interventions were not as effective as intended, and future research is warranted on the reactivity that may be occasioned by visual prompts.

For centuries, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ) identified individuals have contacted aversive consequences and limited access to reinforcers as a result of their identity and/or their perceived or actual behavior patterns, as compared to persons who present as Heterosexual and Cisgendered. The field of ABA has produced numerous research studies over the past several decades that have conceptualized LGBTQ-related behavior and identification as problematic, adding to the further marginalization of these individuals. Moreover, behavior-analytic practitioners and researchers have targeted these behaviors for change, which in many cases resulted in significant harm to the individual. The purpose of this presentation is to provide a framework of social justice to help guide behavior analysts in ethical decision-making when working with LGBTQ identified individuals. Basic definitions of terms related to gender identity and sexual orientation and behavioral research related to these topics will be reviewed. Case examples within the context of BACB ethical guidelines and APA ethical codes, and future directions for research will be discussed.