GEORGIA ASSOCIATION FOR BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS
Thanks for a great 2019 conference!
Stay tuned for details about our 2020 conference! We will see you this fall!
See abstracts from our 2019 presentations below:
Jon Bailey
Answering Ethics Questions: A workshop
In the first part of this workshop I will discuss the four major sources of ethics problems for BCBAs. I will then present a series of ethics questions and ask participants to answer them. We will then compare answers and discuss as related to specific sections of the Professional and Ethical Compliance Code for Behavior Analysts. In the last hour participants will present ethics questions to the group and we will discuss possible answers and solutions.
Learning Objectives:
1. Participants will be able to identify the four major sources of ethical problems for BCBA and give examples of each.
2. Participants will be able to generate answers to ethics questions that comply with the BACB Ethics code.
Ellie Kazemi
Effective Leadership and Supervision of Staff
Although supervision is extremely important for provision of high quality and effective services, specialized training for it lags way behind. For example, a supervisor’s primary means of improving their staff's skills is through ongoing performance evaluation and feedback. However, most supervisors report that they feel uncomfortable giving corrective feedback. In this talk. I will address some of the common barriers supervisors face and provide practical tips for efficient, effective leadership and supervision of staff.
Learning Objectives:
1. Discuss the primary functions of supervision
2. Explain how to assess and improve personnel performance 3. Explain at least three different effective supervision practices to model
Aubrey Daniels
Your Luckiest Day
As I talk to students I find that many who are studying ABA have a very narrow view of what they are learning. For example they think that ABA is all about autism or some other narrow application of the science of behavior. Not that there is not specific knowledge that needs to be known for the many areas of application for the science but the basics are the same. I started out in the clinical field but have since applied the science to delinquency, family, education, health and all kinds and aspects of business. ADI has worked in approximately 70 countries with the materials translated into many languages and dialects. Although I have been in the business arena for over 50 years, new behavior analysts are still at the forefront of a revolution of psychology and can make a huge difference in how we live, learn and play.
Learning Objectives:
1. To learn the wide range of application of the science of behavior
2. To understand the way to approach a business for using a behavioral approach to managing the organization
Tiffany Kodak
Designing and Using Assessment-Based Instruction in Practice
There is considerable empirical evidence that shows assessment-based instruction can improve the efficacy and efficiency of skill acquisition for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Nevertheless, assessment-based instruction is not yet widely used by practitioners. One variable that may contribute to this research-to-practice gap is lack of familiarity with how to design and conduct these assessments. Dr. Kodak will present a step-by-step guide to designing and using assessment-based instruction to inform selection of skill-acquisition methods for clients with ASD. Descriptions, examples, and relevant data sheets and graphical displays will be provided to teach attendees how to design skill acquisition assessments.
Learning Objectives:
1. The audience can describe at least two ways to measure efficiency during the assessment
2. The audience can identify at least two variables that should be considered when equating the conditions in the assessment
3. The audience can describe how the outcomes of the assessment can be used to inform the selection of intervention
Amy Odum
Why do we Disregard Delayed Outcomes?
Steep delay discounting is characterized by a preference for small immediate outcomes relative to larger delayed outcomes and is predictive of a variety of maladaptive behaviors like drug abuse and problematic gambling. Why do we disregard the future consequences of our current actions? Research shows that there are strong situational as well as personal contributions to steep delay discounting. We will review the substantial literature indicating that non-monetary outcomes are discounted far more precipitously than money as well as evaluate theories that may explain this finding. People also tend to discount different outcomes similarly. That is, if a person discounts one outcome steeply, they are also likely to discount other outcomes steeply. We will discuss the implications of the person-level contribution to delay discounting for attempts to change behavior as well as implications of person-level contributions to behavior for behavior analysis.
Learning Objectives:
1. Attendees will be able to describe delay discounting.
2. Attendees will be able to outline situational and person-level contributions to delay discounting.
Robert Pennington
Henry Roane
Jason Travers
Behaving Behavior Analytic in the Provision of School Supports
Serving educational professionals and their students in school contexts is a challenging but meaningful endeavor. In this session, Dr. Pennington will draw on his over 25 years working in schools to discuss functional contingencies related to teacher behavior change and provide an approach for assessing and then supporting teachers in the improvement of classroom programming.
Learning Objectives:
1. Participants will describe potential contingencies that may facilitate or hinder teacher behavior change.
2. Participants will describe an approach to assessing the classroom environment and identify intervention targets.
3. Participants will describe strategies for intervening to support teacher development.
Translational Research on Relapse: Implications for Clinical Practice
Treatment of challenging behavior often involves withholding reinforcement for problem behavior (i.e., extinction) while simultaneously reinforcing alternative behavior (i.e., differential reinforcement). Previous research has demonstrated that if reinforcement of alternative behavior is reduced or eliminated (i..e, interruption of treatment), problem behavior may re-emerge. This presentation will describe two lines of translational research related to the reemergence a behavior during resurgence and renewal paradigms. Within a resurgence framework, data will be presented on the extent to which response variability might occur when reinforcement is withheld for previously reinforced responses, and the role of response class membership on response variability during resurgence. The translational data on renewal will describe applications with both humans and rats, with a particular emphasis on non sequential renewal - an experimental arrangement that has implications for clinical practice. Collectively, the results will be discussed related to the effects of treatment interruptions on clinical outcomes.
Learning Objectives:
1. develop an understanding of how response variability might impact treatment planning under conditions approximately resurgence.
2. understand the role of varied contexts on responding in renewal arrangements
Recognizing and Avoiding Pseudoscientific Practices in Behavior Analysis
The evidence-based treatment era has emerged during a social media revolution that makes identifying reliable information quite difficult. Unfortunately, the helping professions associated with autism and other developmental disabilities provides a rich environment where pseudoscientific and unproven practices thrive, and behavior analysts often may not be prepared to discriminate bogus methods from useful ones. The tendency toward such practices negatively impacts the individuals we serve and complicates collaboration with parents and other professionals. This session will present healthy skepticism as the mechanism for scrutinizing treatment claims, and will distinguish skepticism from credulity and cynicism. Examples of errors in reasoning that can mislead toward unproven interventions will be shared along with some recommend components of a program for personal professional development to acquire a skeptical repertoire.
Learning Objectives:
1. Distinguish between demonstrably valid, potentially valid, unproven, and disproven claims about intervention effectiveness by applying a skeptical repertoire. 2. Understand differences between qualities and quantities of evidence and their relationship to insignificant, important, and extraordinary claims about intervention effects.
3. Recognize and respond to fallacious reasoning often used in defense of unproven and disproven interventions. List three steps for your own professional development of a skeptical repertoire of behavior.