Association for Behavior Analysis International

Parent Management Training–Oregon Model (PMTO) is an evidence-based intervention that prevents and treats child and adolescent behavior problems by teaching parents strategies that reduce coercion and increase positive parenting practices (Forgatch & Patterson, 2010; Patterson, 2005). The intervention, which was developed by the group of colleagues led by Gerald Patterson, has emerged over several decades with a programmatic focus on families with youngsters with externalizing problems such as aggression, antisocial behavior, and delinquency. PMTO's staying power over nearly five decades is likely tied to the continuing integration of theory, science, and practice with a focus on improving outcomes at every level. In the last fifteen years, PMTO has been implemented internationally. Reliable and valid data using multiple method and agent assessment from U.S. and international PMTO implementations illustrate the challenges of making empirically-supported interventions routine practice in the community. Technological advances that break down barriers to communication across distances, the availability of efficacious programs suitable for implementation, and the urgent need for high quality mental health care provide strong rationales for prioritizing implementation. The next challenge is to reduce the prevalence of children's psychopathology by creating science-based delivery systems to reach families in need, everywhere.

This lecture will be of interest to applied researchers interested in mechanisms of behavior change and of implementation of evidence-based programs, and to practitioners who work in a variety of applied settings, particularly those who work with children with aggressive and other antisocial behavior.

Judges and juries easily accept information that is consistent with stereotypes but tend to resist information that is inconsistent with them. When groups like gangs, terrorists, or prostitutes are demonized the facts become framed in a manner that a guilty verdict or severe sentence becomes likely. Experience in dozens of gang-related trials is drawn on to confirm how stereotypes can produce processes of injustice. Language from police interrogations, prosecutor's arguments, and Hagedorn's court testimony are examined to explain how in gang-related criminal trials it is often the frames that matter not the facts. When the frames are hard, Lakoff says, the facts sometimes bounce off.

Certified Behavior Analysts and graduate students.

The development of the recognition of self-like individuals, including relatives and conspecifics, often relies on critical experience with parents, siblings, and other predictable referents during early life. For example, in birds, exposure to conspecifics in the nest reliably cues species-recognition for flocking and mating. How then so brood parasitic birds, that lay their eggs in other species' nest, develop conspecific referents when raised by foster parents? And how do hosts recognize and reject foreign eggs and chicks in the nest if they have not yet laid a clutch before? The presenter’s research focuses on the experimental analysis of self-recognition in both parasites and hosts through phenotypic manipulation of the available cues for species recognition during development. The results reveal how a long-hypothesized mechanism, namely self-referenced phenotype matching, enables the evolution of brood parasitism in birds, and perhaps contributes to the ecological flexibility of recognition systems under socially unpredictable conditions in general.

Licensed Psychologists

Zoos and aquariums strive to provide the highest levels of welfare for the animals under their care. This goal is achieved through evidence-based management where research, animal care and veterinary services work together to answer questions regarding animal welfare and turn findings into practice. Behavioral data is one of the many tools used within zoos and aquariums used to make informed management decisions. Historically, zoos primarily utilized negative indicators of welfare such as stereotypic or abnormal behavior. However, the absence of negative indicators of welfare does not suggest that an animal is thriving. The presentation will highlight the many different ways behavior data can be utilized within a zoo environment to ensure high levels of welfare. Examples include behavioral monitoring of the collection, asking specific questions regarding animal behavior, and preference assessments. Ultimately, behavioral data combined with many other positive and negative indicators of animal welfare can help ensure each individual animal within a zoo has the opportunity to thrive.

The target audience should have a basic understanding of animal behavior and preferably some experience with environmental enrichment and animal welfare.

Darwin's Sexual Selection Theory has had an important impact on the understanding of male-female differences in morphology, physiology, and behavior, as well as in mate selection and competition for access to reproductive resources. Using an avian model (Coturnix japonica) the presenter and colleagues have found that males and females differ in the expression of sexual learning, both Pavlovian and instrumental. They have also explored how early learning affects sexual preference and receptivity in males and females later in life and how learning contributes to improve male reproductive success in sexual competition situations. For example, male quail trained in a Pavlovian learning situation are better able to copulate with females than non-trained males, and male quail who lose in a male-male competition, improve their success after training that allows them to predict the presence of a female partner. Females, on the other hand, improve their proceptive behavior if provided the opportunity to have access to areas occupied by males. The presenter will discuss results of their work, but will argue for a comparative approach to better understand the evolution of the sexual behavior system.

How do we prepare teachers for supporting the social emotional growth of young children while giving them the tools to address challenging behaviors in school and childcare settings? Those who have been in the field for a long time as well as pre-service teachers often struggle with how to balance instructional practice and requirements to address the social-emotional needs of their students. Without addressing the social-emotional needs of the students, instruction and learning cannot occur. This lecture will focus on developmentally appropriate practices that create social-emotional and physical environments that are most supportive of children's healthy development. In tandem with setting up the environment to foster appropriate behavior, a variety of strategies for addressing challenging behaviors will be discussed. Key components for laying this groundwork include: family-teacher partnerships, developmentally appropriate curriculum and assessment, guidance and behavior supports. Lessons learned from a variety of early childcare and educational settings, including programs in the Delaware Stars for Early Success (the state's Quality Rating and Improvement System [QRIS]), will be presented.

To come.