Association for Behavior Analysis International

This panel offers an opportunity for convention attendees to interact with Jamila Raqib, the 2019 ABAI Presidential Scholar who will make opening comments, and behavior analysts with long interests in nonviolent social action. In some cases traditional approaches to nonviolent struggle have become less successful than previously; for this reason, emphases in this panel will be on exploring nonviolent scientific 21st century alternatives. A particular focus will be on contemporary approaches to understanding and shaping what Gandhi discussed as the “Constructive Programme”—which overlaps substantially with the seminal behavior analyst Israel Goldiamond’s “constructional” approach. The panel will include an audience-driven question and answer period, with time allotted for interactions amongst the panelists and the audience.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Dr. Rakos received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Kent State University and now is Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Cleveland State University. He retired in 2016 after 37.5 years at CSU, most recently as associate dean for faculty and program development in the College of Sciences and Health Professions. Dr. Rakos is widely published in the areas of assertiveness training, self-management, law and psychology, and cultural analysis.  He served as Editor of Behavior and Social Issues (and its predecessor journals Behaviorists for Social Action Journal and Behavior Analysis and Social Action) from 1981-1993 and as associate editor of BSI from 1993 to the present. He also served on the editorial board of Law and Human Behavior from 2000-2016 and is a fellow of the American Psychological Association. Since retiring from CSU, Dr. Rakos has maintained his behavior analytic scholarly activities while expanding his private clinical practice significantly, focusing on the behavioral treatment of persons experiencing difficulties with anxiety, stress, depression, self-control, obsessions and compulsions, and social/interpersonal relationships.

Human reliance on plastic, especially single-use plastic items, has produced devastating effects on the environment. Extensive change and clean-up is needed to improve current conditions; however, behavior analysis is well-suited to provide direction and data on strategies to change human behavior in more environmentally friendly ways. Strategies to effectively increase recycling and reduce reliance on single-use plastics are urgently needed. This talk will discuss studies conducted in a university setting to increase recycling behavior and reduce plastic waste. Both studies involved manipulations of effort to produce desirable change in behavior. Advantages and disadvantages of both approaches will be discussed, and suggestions for avenues of future research and collaboration will be offered.

Behavior analysts, researchers, organizations seeking to improve recycling.

Ronnie Detrich has been providing behavior analytic services for over 50 years. His work can be characterized as thorough-going behavior analysis drawing from the conceptual, experimental, and applied branches of our discipline. From 1970-1977, he worked at a pioneering Family Service Agency in Flint, Michigan providing behavior analytic services for anyone requesting help. Later, he developed and was the director of a state-wide educational and residential program for school-aged children with autism in South Dakota. In the 1980s, Ronnie was the director of a residential program based on the Teaching Family Model for adjudicated juvenile offenders in West Virginia. From 1986-2004, he was the clinical director for a large non-public school in the San Francisco Bay Area serving children with intellectual disabilities and serious behavior challenges. In addition, he also co-directed a public-school consultation project supporting students with academic and behavioral challenges. From 2004-2018, Ronnie was a Senior Fellow at the Wing Institute, an education policy think tank that focuses on the implementation of evidence-based practices in public schools. Currently, he is the proprietor of Detrich and Associates, a consulting project based in Logan, Utah. He also holds an appointment as adjunct faculty at Utah State University.

In recent years, Ronnie’s work has focused on the challenges of achieving adequate levels of treatment integrity in large systems, the role of the evidence-based practice movement in behavior analysis, and the large-scale implementation of effective practices in public schools. He is a trustee of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies and is on the editorial boards of Perspectives in Behavior Science and Exceptional Children. He serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Positive Behavior Intervention. Ronnie has also served on the editorial board of Behavior Analysis in Practice and was the Coordinator of ABAI’s Practice Board.

One of the ambitions of behavior analysis is “better living through behaviorism.” Many scholars in behavior analysis have been concerned about the slow adoption rate of effective behavior analytic practices. Perhaps the problem lies not in our practices but in our dissemination efforts. There are two aspects to disseminating our practices. The first is when we are working with families, educators, or businesses and we have identified an intervention to be implemented. In many instances, even though our services have been sought out, the individuals responsible for implementing the intervention do not do so with sufficient integrity to yield benefit. This represents a limited dissemination effort and the failure to achieve promised gains has the potential to harm the reputation of the individual behavior analyst, the organization providing the service, and the discipline of applied behavior analysis.

The second aspect of dissemination is the effort to increase broad scale adoption of the science and technology of behavior analysis. It is often the case that our dissemination efforts, such as publication in journals and presentations at conferences, at this level are passive. We have a 60-year baseline suggesting that these approaches have been largely unsuccessful. A re-thinking of our dissemination strategies may be warranted. Behavior analysis is the science of social influence and dissemination is a social rather than a technical challenge. It involves, at a minimum, someone disseminating and someone adopting what is being disseminated. It may be worthwhile to frame dissemination as a speaker-listener relation and more closely analyze the variables that influence both the speaker and listener.

A first step in doing this requires that we move away from our topographical definition of dissemination to a functional one. The ultimate criterion for judging dissemination is that a practice is adopted. Without adoption, there is no dissemination. Drawing from our own literature as well as the literature from implementation science and dissemination, an approach will be proposed that has the potential to increase the adoption rate of our practices.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Behavior Analysis (BA) and Relational Frame Theory (RFT) are integrated in a continuum dimension that is rooted to the functional and contextual perspective of behavior. The implications are simply huge. In this presentation, I will travel back to those times where BA began to provide formulas about how contingencies organized behavior. These effective experiences accounted for part of the enormous variability shown in behavior and very soon B.F. Skinner realized the impact of rules on contingencies. Even more, the relevance of generative self-rules and self-knowledge as well as how we respond to the one`s own behavior were on the table. This door was identified to further scientific inquiry, however it took some time for an insightful behavior to occur in the middle of practical experiences, an insight pointing to the emergent or derived responding. It was when the door was clearly opened to the analysis of further and more sophisticated forms of variability as generativity or derived responding as altering the meaning of contingencies. Relational Frame Theory was a step forward into the analysis of such behavioral phenomena. Consequently, an extension of the functional dimension was in place to account for relevant behaviors as those pointing to human suffering or, conversely, responding to living in peace with oneself. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is nowadays the contextual Therapy more compromised with the identification of the interactions involved in moving from suffering to living. Very good news for the functional and contextual perspective of behavior with the focus in the emergence of insightful behavior in the days to come that might connect still isolated points.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students. 

Dr. Hall is an Assistant Professor of Companion Animal Science at Texas Tech University and the Director of the Canine Olfaction Research and Education Laboratory in the Department of Animal Science. Dr. Hall earned his Ph.D. at the University of Florida, specializing in the study of Behavior Analysis and canine olfaction. As a post-doc, he continued his studies at Arizona State University investigating the optimization of training to enhance canine’s detection of Homemade Explosives. At Texas Tech, his work continues to explore canine olfactory perception and how experience influences odor perception. His lab also investigates predictors and correlates of problem behavior, behavioral predictors of working aptitude, and canine health.

Domestic dogs are utilized worldwide for the detection of explosives, narcotics, wildlife, and missing persons. Further, dogs are utilized by numerous private and governmental organizations such as the military, customs, border patrol and police departments for critical detection and apprehension tasks. Importantly, key basic research measuring detection limits, developing optimal training methods, and selection of dogs are largely lacking. Our lab aims to apply basic behavioral research to address relevant questions for working and pet dogs. This talk will highlight our lab’s research, addressing basic questions on how olfactory sensitivity varies across breeds, the degree to which olfactory sensitivity changes with training, the effects of training method on compound odor stimulus processing, and simple measures to enhance the selection of optimal working dogs. Audience member will learn about the current state of knowledge of detector dog science and where behavioral research can be leveraged to improve the performance of working dogs. The same behavioral principles will also be applicable to pet owners interested in training scent work with their pet dogs, or would simply like to learn more about canine olfactory perception.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

We have come a long way since the adoption of the Handicapped Children’s Act of 1975. Inclusion of students with special education needs (SEN) is gaining traction, albeit slowly, in and out of the US. This presentation will review various successful behavioral strategies and tactics and include outcome data from a systems perspective. Greenberg & Greenberg (2014) have described a successful model of inclusion in a complex international school setting in Hong Kong. Applied behavior analysis components were and continue to be used extensively there. A detailed description of those components will be provided in this presentation. It is the aim of this presentation to share the program description and its parts using verbal behavior about the science and terms associated with the research literature in applied behavior analysis. Participants familiar with an intermediate to advanced level of understanding in the field may consider the implementation of some or all of those components in their own schools around the world.

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is the “cutting-edge and traditional” application of behavioral science in real-world settings such as clinics and schools with the aim of improving socially important behavior. ABA has been active in South Korea for the last 10 years. More and more medical doctors, teachers, therapists, and stakeholders are interested in ABA beyond “behavior modification.” The science and practice of a behavioral approach has taken hold in South Korea in a variety of ways, including (a) Positive Behavior Support in schools, (b) legislation for people with developmental disabilities, and (c) training behavior analysts via graduate-school level programs. In this presentation I describe a significant growth in the number of clinics/schools using ABA, BCBA’s practicing, and ABA training programs, in South Korea. Additionally, the current limitations and the future of ABA in South Korea are discussed.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Behavior analysis has addressed issues of social justice since the early formation of its field. Early basic and theoretical work provided promise for addressing such issues, while the advent of applied behavior analysis explicitly demonstrated the power of behavioral science in addressing issues of societal concern. Despite the celebrated social validity of behavior analysis, issues of diversity and inclusion persist. This panel features three scientists who have effectively addressed issues of diversity and inclusion in their own laboratories. The discussion will highlight ways to foster diversity and inclusion in the operations and makeup of lab groups, in addition to discussing ways behavior analysis can leverage its science to answer research questions regarding issues of diversity and inclusion in broader cultural contexts. Questions from the audience will be welcomed and encouraged.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Dr. Jomella Watson-Thompson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Behavioral Science, a Senior Faculty Associate with the Center for Service Learning. and an Associate Director for the Center for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas.  She attained a Ph.D. in Behavioral Psychology and a Masters of Urban Planning from the University of Kansas. She applies behavioral science methods and interventions to improve how communities address issues related to community health and development. Her research has focused on neighborhood development, substance abuse prevention, and youth and community violence prevention. Dr. Thompson uses a community-based participatory approach to address social determinants or factors that may contribute to disparities, particularly for marginalized groups and communities. She has researched the effects of community-based processes and interventions to promote mobilization and change in communities.  Dr. Thompson has co-authored articles on community capacity-building, youth development, and prevention and received numerous federal, state and local funding awards.  She is as an Associate Editor with Behavior and Social Issues.  Dr. Thompson serves as a Principal with Ad Astra Community Innovations Group, and has extensive experience providing training, technical support and evaluation for coalitions and community-based initiatives.