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| How is Everyone Really Feeling? Rethinking Emotions: A Practical Workshop for Behavior Analysts |
| Thursday, May 22, 2025 |
| 4:00 PM–7:00 PM |
| Marriott Marquis, M4 Level, Independence A-C |
| Area: PCH/VBC; Domain: Translational |
| CE Instructor: Anna Linnehan, Ph.D. |
| ANNA LINNEHAN (Endicott College), JILLIAN BALDWIN (Endicott College), SHEILA ANN ANN KLICK (Endicott College), AWAB ABDEL-JALIL (Upstate Caring Partners & Endicott College), ANGELA FUHRMANN-KNOWLES (Endicott College) |
| Description: In 2021, the U.S. Surgeon General released the Youth Mental Health Advisory, emphasizing the critical need to focus on youth mental health, as many young people are unable to access the emotional support they need. Although there has been a call for behavior analysts to study emotions (Friman, et al, 1998) there has been a lack of putting this call into action. Recent advances in neuroscience (Barrett, 2017) and behavior analysis (Layng, 2006, 2017) offer a comprehensive framework for studying emotions, enabling behavior analysts to investigate new intervention strategies previously unexplored. This workshop will discuss recent investigations in neuroscience and their implications for analyzing emotions and emotional behavior through a radical behavioral lens. Drawing on a parsimonious analysis of emotions from Skinner (1963), Goldiamond (1979), and Layng (2006, 2017), attendees will learn about emotions not as internal states but as contingency descriptors, e.g., in the case of "fear" the contingent consequence described is distance by moving away from an event/organism/activity that causes damage and in the case of anger, distancing is achieved by driving away the event/organism/activity. This workshop will also provide strategies for practitioners using this approach to teach emotional awareness, empowering learners to advocate for their needs. |
| Learning Objectives: 1. Distinguish between emotions and emotional behaviors. 2. Describe the key principles of a radical behavioral analysis of emotions, distinguishing emotions as contingency descriptors rather than internal states. 3. |
| Activities: Instructional strategies will include lecture, discussion, and individual as well as small breakout groups activities. Workshop objectives will be met through presentation of material through lecture including a discussion on historical assumptions of emotions based on internal states juxtaposed with current research in neuroscience and behavioral science. Attendees will also work through targeted activities to demonstrate the role of the context in describing emotions and emotional behavior. The format combines lecture, individual and small group activities followed by group discussion. |
| Audience: beginner level |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Basic |
| Keyword(s): Contingency Analysis, Emotions, Neuroscience |
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