Inside Behavior Analysis
Volume 1 | 2009 | Number 1
Applied Animal Behavior
By Jennifer Sobie
The Applied Animal Behavior Special Interest Group was created in 1994 to promote research and application of behavior analytic principles in the field of animal training and animal behavior therapy. Originally named the Trainer's Forum, the SIG changed its name in 2007 to reflect the overriding interest of its membership in the application of behavior analysis to the improvement of the lives of people and their pets and of animals living in captivity.
The AAB SIG currently has 59 members. A new membership policy requires members to either 1) attend the conference, post on the AAB SIG Yahoo group or otherwise keep contact through the year, or 2) have membership of any designation in ABAI. People interested in becoming members of the AAB SIG or in simply benefiting from SIG communications are encouraged to contact our Communication Liaison, Terri Bright, at terribright@comcast.net
Research
A primary focus of the AAB SIG in the advancement the human/animal condition is research. Although animal behavior from an ethological perspective is a vast field with impressive research opportunity, support, and production, applied animal behavior falls far behind basic animal behavior in research. A recent meta-review of peer-reviewed treatment-efficacy publications in applied animal behavior identified under 100 publications between 1970 and 2005, found pharmacological intervention efficacy studies far out-distancing behavior modification treatments in recent years and found that of those behavior modification treatments analyzed, punishment was the number one treatment. These dismal numbers and projections are produced in an era where the number reason for euthanasia of companion animals is behavior.
The AAB SIG is dedicated to the belief that research – in particular, student research – is the most productive means to both spur innovation and to provide empirically based treatment options. One avenue of support that we are proud to provide in advancement of student research is the Marian Breland Bailey Award (MBBA) for Student Research and Scholarship. This award recognizes student achievements in the field of AAB behavior analysis-based research, selecting award recipients from those presenting at the annual convention. MBBA candidates are selected based on the information submitted to ABAI during the annual call-for-papers. Authors of submissions meeting eligibility requirements – i.e., applied animal behavior content, data-based presentation, student as primary author – are contacted and provided the award evaluation criteria. Upon the authors' acknowledgements, judges from the AAB SIG then attend the individual presentations. Winners are chosen based on a number of points, including topic; design including internal and external validity; methodology; the relevance of the study to behavior analysis; and the clarity of the presentation.
There were 13 Marian Breland Bailey Award candidate presentations at the 2008 conference in Chicago, IL, and we are pleased to announce the following award winners:
Terri Bright, Simmons College, awarded $100.00 in the MBBA Oral Presentation category for her research as presented in her talk, "Find It! Generalized Matching to Sample in Dogs."
Carmen Buitrago, Central Washington University, awarded $100.00 in the MBBA Poster Presentation category for her research as presented in her poster, "Change and Repeat: Demonstrating Control over Variable and Repetitive Behavior in Dog Training."
Angie Drake, University of North Texas, awarded $50.00 in the MBBA Continuing Research in an Area category for her research as presented in her talk, "From Feral to Friendly: Shaping "Tameness" in Felines with Negative Reinforcement."
Please share in congratulating each of these three students on their fine work in the area of applied animal behavior research, and check the AAB SIG page for a list of 2009 recipients.
For additional information on the Marian Breland Bailey Award, its recipients and eligibility and evaluation criteria, please contact Jennifer Sobie, jennifer.l.sobie@wmich.edu, or Megan Maxwell, meganmaxwell@petbehaviorchange.com.