Association for Behavior Analysis International

Though behavior is a product of environmental circumstances, those environmental circumstances are complex. Skinner suggested that phylogenic, ontogenic, and socio-cultural selection interact to produce the behavior of organisms. Humans are organisms that sometimes become behavior analysts. The ontogenic and socio-cultural circumstances that led the speaker to become a behavior analyst include a variety of clinical (and personal) challenges that have shaped a perspective. This perspective remains aligned with the assumption that behavior is a product of environmental circumstances. In so far as a behavior analyst can assess (or assert) value judgments, when behavior occurs there is no blame to ascribe to the person. However, socio-cultural practices demand attributions of causality and/or assertions of blame. As a field, behavior analysis is experiencing many challenges, from society at large, small segments of society (e.g., social media groups), and from within behavior analysis. This address will examine values from the perspective of our field as they pertain to ethical practice and will consider the views of social groups outside and within behavior analysis. There will be a discussion of how clinical practice should be both sensitive to and, occasionally, insulated from social movements.

This presentation is geared towards practicing behavior analysts but anyone interested in behavior analysis may be interested.

John Wixted is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychology at UC San Diego. He earned his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Emory University in 1987 and has been a professor at UC San Diego ever since. His research addresses fundamental mechanisms of human memory, both in the lab and in the real world. In recent years, his work has focused on signal-detection models of recognition memory, the neuroscience of memory and amnesia, and eyewitness identification. Professionally, he has served as editor-in-chief of Psychonomic Bulletin & Review (1998-2002), and he later edited the 5-volume 4th edition of the venerable Stevens' Handbook of Experimental Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience (2018). In 2011, he was the recipient of the Howard Crosby Warren Medal for distinction in contemporary research in experimental psychology, and in 2019 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) stands as a clear example of how Clinical Behavior Analysis (CBA) can be applied with precision and fidelity to promote meaningful change in one-on-one interactions, including the therapeutic relationship. While many behavioral therapies have adopted mid-level terms to explain their effectiveness, FAP has remained firmly rooted in behavioral analytic principles. The theoretical underpinnings of FAP have consistently aligned with behavioral principles, focusing on the contingencies of reinforcement present in the therapeutic interaction. Research on FAP has particularly emphasized in single-case designs, which measure the interactional contingencies and demonstrate their covariation with client behavior both within and outside the session. In many ways, FAP fulfills the "dream of the therapeutic session as a laboratory" envisioned by C. Ferster, bringing the rigor of behavior analysis into the therapy room. This presentation will explore how FAP exemplifies the power of behavioral principles and procedures when applied to the therapeutic context, showing that clinical change is not only possible but also measurable when behavioral principles are used with care and precision.

Behavior analysts interested in mental health

Amanda Muñoz-Martínez received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Nevada, Reno. She is a Certified Functional Analytic Psychotherapy Trainer (FAP trainer) and member of the FAP Certification, Policy, and Ethics Board (FAP CEP). Amanda is currently an Associate Professor at the Universidad de Los Andes (Colombia).

Amanda’s main research interest is optimizing and evaluating principle-based therapies for improving clients’ and stakeholders’ well-being, particularly, in Latin America. She is the director of ContigoLab that focused on the following research areas in clinical behavior analysis: (a) assessment of mechanisms of change in behavioral-based interventions, and (b) optimization and evaluation across diverse contexts and populations of contextually-based intervention such as Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), FAP, and so forth. From her research efforts, she has published several articles in peer-review journals (Q1 to Q4, SJR index). She has also written books with recognized book editorials such as Routledge.

As a FAP trainer, she has facilitated several trainings for English- and Spanish-Speakers to enhance interpersonal skills and create meaningful relationships.

The opioid landscape has recently shifted to include xylazine, a veterinary anesthetic, as an adulterant in the illicit fentanyl supply. The health impacts of xylazine as an emerging fentanyl adulterant has raised alarm, warranting research on the impacts of xylazine on fentanyl’s behavioral and biological effects. Thus, we evaluated the effects of xylazine on fentanyl demand and withdrawal as compared to the FDA-approved opioid withdrawal medication, lofexidine (Lucemyra®). This is important because lofexidine and xylazine are both adrenergic α2a agonists, however, lofexidine is not a noted fentanyl adulterant. Using a rodent self-administration model, we evaluated the effects of xylazine or lofexidine on fentanyl demand, body weight, and withdrawal. Evaluations of effects as a function of sex as a biological variable was important because clinical experiences indicate that women experience more severe fentanyl withdrawal symptomatology compared to men, and we have previously shown that females are more susceptible to withdrawal compared to males. We next evaluated body weight changes and determined that body weight loss may be an important translational indicator of withdrawal severity from xylazine and fentanyl. Finally, we evaluated gastrointestinal consequences of xylazine/fentanyl co-use to determine if fentanyl pharmacokinetics can be therapeutically targeted to reduce withdrawal severity.

Intermediate

Dr. Cassandra Gipson-Reichardt is a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Kentucky. She is currently the Program Chair-Elect for the College on Problems of Drug Dependence and the President-Elect for Division 28 of the American Psychological Association. Her research program focuses on elucidating neurobehavioral mechanisms underlying substance use by leveraging preclinical rodent models, focusing on translation of clinical substances use patterns. From these efforts, Dr. Gipson-Reichardt developed the first intravenous self-administration model of xylazine/fentanyl co-use in rats, deriving aspects of the model directly from surveillance signals from the illicit drug supply. Her lab studies neurobehavioral underpinnings of addiction, focusing on factors that impact glutamatergic and dopaminergic signaling and neural circuit adaptations during drug use, including endogenously cycling and synthetic contraceptive hormones as well as neuroimmune dysfunction within the brain reward pathway. Her lab also focuses on nicotine self-administration as well as polysubstance use involving opioids and psychostimulants and ethanol and nicotine. 

The target audience includes individuals with a basic knowledge of stimulus control.

The efficacy of the application of behavior analytic principles to supports for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities has been demonstrated across the life span (Kurtz & Lind, 2013) and has been a hallmark of applied behavior analysis for decades. Although a great deal of literature has provided guidance on behavior analytic support for children and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, considerably less literature has focused on how those supports can be adapted and provided across a person’s lifespan, particularly into older adulthood. As medical advances continue to extend the expected lifespan and improve the quality of life for all people including those with intellectual or developmental disabilities, we are faced with a growing older adult population in need of supports. Advancements in certification, licensure, and funding for behavioral services mean that more individuals have received support at an early age and increasingly more are receiving supports throughout life. This presents a complex intersection of training needs for specialized staff supporting the needs of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are experiencing aging-related changes. This presentation will review the existing literature on staff training and intervention for older adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It will then present existing resources that can be readily adopted into training, as well as ideas for the development of specialized trainings. Finally, these resources will be incorporated in identifying staff training needs for both direct support staff and clinical staff.

BCBAs or upper management in agencies providing services to adults with autism and/or intellectual and developmental disabilities who are supervising staff, aspiring BCBAs, and BCBAs. In particularly, agencies serving an aging population, but any adult agency would be relevant.

It has taken us decades to become a discipline in our own right. Once simply a part of experimental psychology we now can act as behavior analysts across many environments: university departments, treatment centers, government agencies, businesses, communities, and so on. Where once we were a happy few mainly at a handful of academic institutions, we now have created major niches for our work not just nationally but internationally. What we do within our discipline ranges from teaching and research to applications and dissemination; what we do outside it reaches beyond our discipline to potential allies in the larger culture, in biology and medicine, in philosophy and secular humanism, and sometimes even in disciplines that once seemed competitive with ours, such as linguistics and cognition. We must beware of boundaries that separate us from other disciplines and from varied approaches within our own discipline. This presentation will use case studies to illustrate the range of our current and potential contributions to the broader culture and in some cases will suggest possible directions for further enhancing them.

I plan this presentation to be relevant to basic through advanced audiences.

Many individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) require continuous healthcare and social services to meet their evolving needs, with lifetime costs estimated at up to $2.4 million (Buescher et al., 2014). While many treatment modalities exist, Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is considered the gold standard and remains the only evidence-based practice for treating ASD. As a result, there is increasing discussion around meaningful outcomes associated with ABA services for individuals with ASD. However, there is still no industry consensus on what outcomes should be measured or how to assess meaningful impact. This session will explore two frameworks—ICHOM and BHCOE—that have been developed to drive consensus on the measurement of outcomes. Additionally, the session will provide an overview of key terminology, including a discussion of quality, quality control, and quality assurance. An Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBI) model will be used as an example to offer practical guidance for measurement in practice. Finally, barriers to implementation and the need for alignment among providers, patients, and payers will be addressed.

This presentation is intended for behavior analysts and senior leadership overseeing ABA service programs for individuals with ASD. Attendees should have an understanding of common measurement practices used in ABA services, including norm referenced and skill based assessments.

Those attending should have taken at least one course in behaviour analysis and/or worked in behaviour analysis in one year or more.

The origins of verbal behavior are said to lie in toddler-caregiver interactions. Recent research has argued that these instances of cooperation serve as a context to build preverbal skills including orienting, imitation and vocalizations, and drive derived relational responding and complex verbal behavior. I will discuss the continuum from preverbal behavior to relational responding in young children, focusing on the methods to facilitate foundational skills for language-learning. Specifically, I will present data on the impact of contingent vocal imitation on vocalizations, orienting and preverbal turn-taking. In addition to these foundations, Relational Frame Theory postulates that nonarbitrary relations (i.e., relations based on formal properties) are a key precursor for complex language. I will demonstrate ways to assess and teach nonarbitrary relations across listener and speaker response topographies to neurotypical and neurodivergent children.

Graduate students, practitioners, and researchers in ABA

Audience members should have a basic understanding of B.F. Skinner's (1957) analysis of verbal behavior, especially the characteristic controlling variables for the elementary verbal operants, and an understanding of the multiple control of verbal behavior.