Association for Behavior Analysis International

The presentation will focus on the importance of the application and divulgation of Behavior Based Safety processes, underlining the essential elements of the science of Behavior Analysis. There are various barriers in such divulgation for a number of reasons. Through the use of detailed examples, these will be presented and exposed, demonstrating the gaps that must filled in order to move on to the following steps. One of the common difficulties all behavior analysts encounter, is illustrating, to individuals and society how B-BS is used and the efficiency of such process. Nationally, one of the main challenges that all behavior analysts are needing to face, in relation to the divulgation of such science, are individuals’ beliefs, spanning credential, cultural and religious points of view. When specifically talking about B-BS, we are explaining a scientific method that involves making significant changes in the usual activities and routines of all the individuals that are adopting it. Such change is of great impact, requiring dedication and will, needing to be adopted and viewed as a new ‘lifestyle’ inside the firm, hospital, school and etc. Laws are another aspect that nations should widely take into consideration. Laws have the aim to clearly state and describe what behaviors should be adopted by all individuals, in a specific situation. Analyzing it under a behavioral perspective, laws should describe, under the three-contingency models (Antecedents, Behavior, Consequences) what are the behaviors that society needs to follow or base themselves on. However, when reading laws (in Italy in particular), everything is defined under the use of punishment, a consequence that has clearly demonstrated its inefficiency in relation to the adoption or changing of behaviors.

The points discussed above expose the main aspects that need to be addressed when developing, at a national and international level, the B-BS process, specifically when adopting the scientific application of Behavior Analysis. In order to continue with the divulgation of the use of B-BS process it's essential to make use of marketing tools. A possible technique that could be adopted, to convince individuals to adopt a B-BS process, is the use of negative reinforcement. Demonstrating, through clear evidence the effectiveness and efficiency of B-BS, through the support of higher hierarchy levels, can definitely be a strong method for individuals to start identifying the importance of the use of such process.

Various solutions and developments in the field of behavior analysis can be adopted, in order to promote and continue with the growth of such field and science. The change and modification of laws could be one, focusing on determining and describing how behaviors can be obtained, rather than just saying what the behaviors are that individuals should follow. All behavior analysists should work in collaboration to continue with the growth and divulgation of the science of behavior analysis, not only through a national point of view but rather under an international one. The help and support through the different International Chapters, should be the starting point.

Throughout the presentation, a clear example of the application of a B-BS process, in the industrial or social field, will be presented and described. This will allow the audience to have a better understanding on how such a method is applied and the change it can bring in relation to individuals behaviors and lives.

The primary audience consists of OBM’ers, Behavior Analysts, Chapter Leaders and individuals signed at the ABAI special interest groups (for example: Behavior Development, Dissemination of Behavior Analysis, Ethics and Behavior Analysis, Organizational Behavioral Network, Practitioner Issues in Behavior Analysis).

To date, mainstream behavior analysis has not been tainted by the so-called “replication crisis” that has embroiled much of the behavioral and social sciences. In this symposium, we summarize key elements of the replication crisis, identify the methods of behavior analysts that have tended to insulate our field from the crisis, describe trends in published research suggesting that behavior analysts are drifting away from these methods, consider the professional contingencies (for example, from granting agencies) that support these trends, and explore the implications of these trends for the long-term vitality of our field. We suggest that our field’s success may be attributed to its longstanding embrace of rigorous single-case experimental methods, and we caution against the adoption of group experiments and correlational studies that rely on statistical inference, especially those that survey subjects about their potential behavior in hypothetical situations instead of observing what subjects actually do under controlled environmental conditions.

Behavior Analysts

This presentation will include a short introduction to each of the journals edited by the panelists (Behavior and Social Issues, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, and Behavior Analysis in Practice). Following this introduction, the panelists will respond to questions from the chair and audience regarding journal-specific details (e.g., submission and acceptance statistics, downloads, top citing sources), issues facing the journals (e.g., self-citations, impact factors, open access, participant descriptions, diversity and inclusion), and current issues in the field’s verbal behavior and the variety of audiences for behavior analytic publications. Finally, panelists will describe strategies researchers and practitioners in behavior analysis can use to become more involved with behavior analytic journals related to their work.

Behavior analytic researchers and practitioners

Behavior Analysts who work in schools

Dr. Millie Blandford-Elliott, BCBA is a lecturer in the School of Educational Sciences at Bangor University, Wales. Her doctoral research involved the implementation of School Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) in Welsh primary schools, and the application of ABA in an early years emotional, social, and behavioural (ESB) setting. Millie’s research and practice interests include SWPBS in the UK, classroom behaviour management, and collaborating with teachers to meet the needs of pupils with ESB difficulties and attachment disorders in mainstream classrooms.

In a career spanning 60+ years, Murray Sidman’s work has had immeasurable impact on the conceptual, methodological, and empirical make-up of behavior analysis, from its early beginnings and continuing to this day. The papers in this symposium will provide insightful reflections on Sidman’s influence as experienced first-hand by three individuals whose own work and perspectives were shaped directly by his input. Dr. Julio de Rose will address the unequaled role played by Sidman’s Tactics of Scientific Research as foundation for the training and research practices of behavior analysts around the world, and as inspiration for the vibrant status of our science in Brazil. Dr. Paula Braga-Kenyon will speak on Sidman’s landmark experimental and conceptual developments related to stimulus equivalence, with emphasis on the important but thorny implications of his later theoretical treatments. Dr. Bill McIlvane will review Sidman’s comprehensive approach to the study of stimulus control, with particular attention to its many implications and opportunities for research directions yet to be explored. Our discussant, Dr. Per Holth, will offer commentary on the papers in the context of his own career-long relationship with Sidman.

Behavior Analysts

Professor Carolina Bori used to teach a course on Tactics at Universidade de São Paulo (USP), in the seventies. I took the Tactics course in my first year as graduate student, in 1973. Students had to read Sidman’s book and participate in discussions about every chapter. USP was, at that time, the major influence on behavior analysis in Brazil, and virtually all students interested in behavior analysis took the Tactics course. Therefore, Tactics became central in the training of Brazilian behavior analysts. Students learned to ask questions to nature, seeking experimental control to reduce variability and find order in their data. In my graduate research, with rats and pigeons, I tried to apply the lessons of Tactics, as many other colleagues did. I met Professor Sidman after my PhD and, at his advice, took a post-doctoral position in the lab he had established at the Shriver Center, near Boston. Sidman no longer had an official position there, but participated in most lab meetings. He then made his first visit to Brazil, for a celebration of the 25th anniversary of Tactics. He returned there several other times, now following the steps of Fred Keller and influencing personally the development of Brazilian behavior analysis. Considering Sidman’s deep influence, initially by his book and later in person, it is not surprising that in the recent special issue of the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior dedicated to Sidman, eight articles had at least one Brazilian author.

Since its earliest days, behavior analysis has been envisioned as a science uniquely well suited to the study and enhancement of the broadest possible range of human endeavors and behavioral phenomena, all with a consistent conceptualization and a common methodological approach. It is arguably still the case, however, that the lion’s share of work within our field falls within a limited number of spheres. The three panelists here each provide exemplary exceptions to this pattern. All three have braved the challenges of working outside the typical boundaries of our field, translating our approach to those who speak different scientific languages, and in doing so have fostered increased recognition and appreciation for behavior-analytic approaches from other disciplines. Dr. Pauline Horne is known for her pioneering work in synthesizing behavior analysis and more traditional approaches from human development, with attendant benefits to targets ranging from imitation to early verbal behavior to children’s diet and health. Dr. Suzanne Mitchell’s influential work on impulsivity, discounting, and behavioral pharmacology spans multiple disciplines and has been tremendously impactful in representing to them the strengths of a behavior-analytic approach. Dr. Ramona Houmanfar represents an internationally recognized and prize-winning career in guiding improvements at the group level in businesses and organizations with respect tobehavioral systems analysis, leadership, communication networks, and instructional design, among other critical operational targets.

Behavior Analysts