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| Experimental Analysis of Human Behavior Special Interest Group Career Award: Can We All Get Along? A Case for Blended Autism Interventions |
| Tuesday, June 1, 2010 |
| 10:00 AM–10:50 AM |
| 103AB (CC) |
| Domain: Theory |
| Chair: Timothy D. Hackenberg (Reed College) |
| TRAVIS THOMPSON (University of Minnesota) |
 Travis Thompson received his PhD in psychology at University of Minnesota. He has conducted research, clinical practice and teaching at the University of Minnesota, Vanderbilt University's John F. Kennedy Center and the University of Kansas Medical Center. He is currently Supervising Psychologist at the Minnesota Early Autism Project in Maple Grove, MN, an Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention home-based therapy program. He has been an invited speaker in 47 states throughout the US and 14 foreign countries. He has published 230 articles and chapters and 30 books. His most recent books, Making Sense of Autism (2007), Straight Talk About Autism (2008) and Freedom from Meltdowns: Dr. Thompson's Solutions for Children with Autism are published by Paul H. Brookes. He is Fellow in ABAI and past-president of APA Division of Psychopharmacology and Substance Abuse and Division of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. He received the Research Award (AAIDD), Distinguished Research Award, (ARC US), the Academy of Mental Retardation, Career Scientist Award, the Edgar Doll Award and the Ernest Hilgard Award (APA), and Society for Advancement of Behavior Analysis's "Impact of Science on Application Award." He is grandparent of a 12 year-old grandson with an autism spectrum disorder. |
| Abstract: Behavior analysts and Constructivist developmental psychologists continue to compete on the autism playing field. The roots of the discord can be traced to the metatheoretical writings of Piaget, Vygotsky, Errickson and Bowlby on one side, and Skinner on the other. Constructivist theory is generally inconsistent with the autism empirical literature, such as the assumed importance of learning by observation, the role of intrinsic motivation and role of maternal attachment. However, some aspects of Constructivist observations, as opposed to theoretical interpretations, provide fruit for thought. Constructivists emphasize the importance of learning in context, a notion behavior analysts have often minimized. Research on Incidental Teaching, Milieu Language learning, Pivotal Response Training and relational learning suggest we may have underestimated the importance of context in conducting our interventions. The presentation will conclude with an example of blended autism early intervention incorporating contextual elements within an overall behavior analytic autism early intervention strategy, raising the question, “Can we all get along?” |
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| CANCELED: Improving Practitioners' Access to and Experience With the Research Literature |
| Tuesday, June 1, 2010 |
| 11:00 AM–11:50 AM |
| 103AB (CC) |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Joel Eric Ringdahl (University of Iowa) |
| JAMES E. CARR (Auburn University) |
 James E. Carr, Ph.D., BCBA-D is an associate professor of psychology at Auburn University and co-director of its applied behavior analysis graduate program. His current research and clinical interests include the behavioral treatment of developmental disabilities (including autism spectrum disorders and mental retardation), verbal behavior, and practitioner training. Dr. Carr currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board. He received his Ph.D. in 1996 from Florida State University and previously served on the psychology faculties at University of Nevada-Reno (1996-1999) and Western Michigan University (1999-2008). |
| Abstract: The profession of applied behavior analysis has undergone a number of exciting changes in recent years. The demand for our services, growth of the certification program, and development of new graduate programs have all combined to increase the number of new behavior-analytic practitioners. In fact, there are currently over 7,000 individuals who hold certification in behavior analysis, an increase of several thousand from just a few years ago. Despite historical and ethical obligations to base behavior-analytic practice on peer-reviewed evidence, a number of barriers sometimes make this difficult. For example, a number of clinically relevant experimental questions have not yet been answered in the literature. In addition, although the behavioral literature is replete with examples of effective treatment, there is a paucity of peer-reviewed published guidance on how to select these treatments given specific clinical circumstances. Finally, although graduate students in behavior analysis often receive training on how to critically consuming the research literature, there are a number of obstacles to their access to the literature after graduation. In this presentation, I will describe several scholarly mechanisms through which behavioral scientists and senior clinicians can influence the behavior of new practitioners. Examples will be provided in the areas of (a) documenting common clinical practices, (b) developing clinical decision-making guidelines, and (c) assisting practitioners in accessing the research literature. |
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| The Tyranny of Small Decisions: Behavior, Biology, Culture, and the Fate of Our Society |
| Tuesday, June 1, 2010 |
| 12:00 PM–12:50 PM |
| 103AB (CC) |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| Chair: Raymond C. Pitts (University of North Carolina, Wilmington) |
| WARREN K. BICKEL (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences) |
 Warren Bickel is Professor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in the College of Medicine and College of Public Health (COPH) and holds the Wilbur D. Mills Chair of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Prevention. He serves as Director of the UAMS Center for Addiction Research and as Director of COPH’s Center for the Study of Tobacco Addiction at UAMS. In these roles, he oversees the development of research addressing addiction and tobacco dependence. Dr. Bickel received his Ph.D. in developmental and child psychology in 1983 from the University of Kansas, completed post doctoral training at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1985, and then joined the faculty of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. In 1987, he relocated to the University of Vermont where he became a Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology and Interim-Chair of the Department of Psychiatry. He serves as Principal Investigator on several NIDA grants. His recent research includes the application of behavioral economics to drug dependence with an emphasis on the discounting of the future and the use of information technologies to deliver science-based prevention and treatment. Dr. Bickel is the recipient of numerous awards and honors including the Joseph Cochin Young Investigator Award from the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD), the Young Psychopharmacologist Award from the Division of Psychopharmacology and Substance Abuse of the American Psychological Association, and a NIH Merit Award from NIDA. He served as President of the Division of Psychopharmacology and Substance Abuse, American Psychological Association and as President of CPDD. Dr. Bickel was Editor of the journal, Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, has co-edited three books, and published over 200 papers. |
| Abstract: Over the past 40 years there has been unprecedented increases in a wide range of challenges and problems for humanity including increasing addiction not only to drugs, but to gambling, internet, and videos games. This has escalated debt, global climate change, and ever expanding problems of obesity. Traditionally, our scientific approaches to these and other related problems have considered each problem to be distinct and separate phenomena requiring its own solution. In contrast, in this talk I make a strong case that these diverse challenges are in fact the results of common processes. The process is the inability to value future events. Individuals who can value the future can work for future outcomes and consequences. When this process is inadequate or fails to operate, individuals only value the immediate option be it getting high, eating food, playing videogames, purchasing items to satisfy today’s needs, or consuming energy at ever increasing rates. The ability to consider the future or to ignore it derives from our biology, our evolutionary history, our developmental trajectory, and are strongly influenced by our culture and our local environments. Fundamentally, this talk suggests that human history and our collective future is about whether we consider the future or will only consider the present and in doing so be trapped by the tyranny of small decisions. This talk will provide a new framework for evaluating our human problems and suggest new ways to redress them. |
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| Applied Behavior Analysis and Teaching Children With Autism in the People's Republic of China |
| Tuesday, June 1, 2010 |
| 1:00 PM–1:50 PM |
| 103AB (CC) |
| Area: TBA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Denise E. Ross (Chicago School of Professional Psychology) |
| PEISHI WANG (Queens College, The City University of New York) |
 Dr. Peishi Wang received her Ph.D. in special education from Teachers College, Columbia University in 2005. She joined the faculties in the Graduate Programs in Special Education in the Department of Educational and Community Programs at Queens College, City University of New York in 2006. She has 15 years of experience of working with infants, toddlers, and preschool children with developmental delays and disabilities. Her research focuses on families of young children with developmental delays, language acquisition in young children with special needs, evidence-based social skills interventions for children with autism, and cross-cultural comparison studies in parenting young children with special needs in the U.S. and China. |
| Abstract: The purpose of this presentation is to provide the audience with an overview of applied behavior analysis (ABA) inspired practices in teaching children with autism in the People’s Republic of China. The first clinical report on autism appeared in the Chinese Journal of Medical Science in 1982. Researchers estimate that China has approximately 500,000 individuals with autism (Tao, 2000). Due to a severe shortage of trained professionals, education for these children has largely remained parents’ responsibility. Subsequently, to meet the needs of these families and children, private schools are established by parents in large and economically well-developed cities. In the pursuit of effective and evidence-based practices, there is a growing trend that more and more families in China are requesting programs based on principles of ABA. This talk will highlight some of these ABA programs. |
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