Inside Behavior Analysis
Volume 1 | 2009 | Number 2 | On-line ISSN: 2151-4704
Southeastern ABA
By Karen Anderson
The Southeastern Association for Behavior Analysis (SEABA) is a regional affiliate of the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI). Like its parent organization, SEABA seeks to promote scholarly discourse within and about behavior analysis. SEABA membership and convention registration are open to anyone with a scholarly interest in behavior analysis.
History
In 1984, Aaron Brownstein (University of North Carolina, Greensboro) rallied a group of prominent behavior analysts in the Southeastern United States around the idea of a regional conference on the science and philosophy of behavior analysis. The Southeastern U.S. contained a large number of strong, but geographically scattered, academic and research groups (e.g., Florida, North Carolina, West Virginia, Alabama, and others) without a venue for scholarly interaction. For many, the Southeastern Psychological Association had served this purpose, but the content of that conference had become overwhelmingly professional rather than scientific (i.e., following the direction of APA). SEABA was founded to provide that scholarly-focused venue for behavior analysts. SEABA was structured specifically to foster high-level discourse on research and theory in behavior analysis. The organization’s sole activity would be to conduct an annual conference. The conference format was developed specifically to replicate the environment of early behavioral conferences and scientific specialty organizations (e.g., the Behavioral Pharmacological Society). To this end, the conference was to be a day and a half, single-track program so that all participants could conveniently attend all presentations, establishing a common basis for discussion and interaction. Speakers were to be selected based on content and quality of their empirical and theoretical work, and to comprise a well-balanced program of basic, applied, conceptual, and philosophical presentations. A final important component was to actively encourage student attendance by establishing a low student conference fee of $3, inviting students from regional schools to introduce the invited speakers, and having largely student projects make up a poster session.
The fall was selected as the best time for the conference, so as to complement the main ABAI convention held in the spring, and the first meeting was held in the fall of 1984 at Myrtle Beach, SC. The first officers were; Fred Keller, Past President; Aaron Brownstein, President; Steve Hays, Secretary; and Scott Lawrence, Treasurer. Sadly, Aaron Brownstein died in 1986. At that year’s conference, Steve Hays presented the association with a banner in Aaron’s memory, and it has since been unfurled to open every conference since.
A Special Emphasis on the Future of Behavior Analysis
A guiding philosophy of SEABA is that students are junior colleagues, with an emphasis on the latter portion of the term. Consequently, SEABA strives to keep membership and convention registration fees low to facilitate student attendance. It is a SEABA tradition that students typically assist in the planning and orchestration of the annual meeting, introduce invited speakers, and contribute to its scholarly well-being through numerous poster presentations.
SEABA membership is open to anyone with a scholarly interest in behavior analysis. Current members include both academic and professional people; psychologists and persons in related disciplines such as education, psychopharmacology, and social work; established scholars; and students. Most members reside in the Southeastern U.S., although an increasing number of members participate from other parts of the country.
For more information visit us at www.seaba.org.