Newsletter
Volume 30 | 2007 | Number 3
Science at ABA 2008
By Dr. Timothy D. Hackenberg, ABAI Experimental Representative
From its inception and through to the present day, progress in all areas of behavior analysis has been fueled by advances in basic science. With the successful application of behavioral principles to an ever-widening array of practical problems, however, the science behind the application is sometimes overlooked. To underscore the vital importance of science to our discipline, this year’s convention will highlight and amplify the good science that has and continues to infuse the various branches of behavior analysis.
Celebrating and Expanding our Scientific Foundations
The theme of this year’s convention, Celebrating and Expanding our Scientific Foundations, weaves together a broad array of topics that speak to our scientific roots and to extensions to new areas of science and application. The keynote event in this track is a session that brings together luminaries in the field to give “State of the Science” lectures—presentations that trace the development of key ideas and concepts in a specific area of research and theory. In what ABAI hopes will be the inaugural session in a recurring convention event, the Science Board is pleased to announce this year’s lineup:
- Edmund Fantino: Choice and Conditioned Reinforcement
- Tony Nevin: Stimuli, Reinforcers, and Private Events
- Murray Sidman: Reflections on Stimulus Control
- Travis Thompson: Behavioral and Mirror Neuron Mechanisms in Self-Awareness
The speakers have each made pioneering and enduring contributions to our science; at the same time, each remains active and well-positioned to comment on key developments for the future. The event promises to provide fascinating perspectives on the historical roots as well as the future directions of important scientific problems.
Other Convention Highlights
The regular EAB and BPH convention tracks also include their usual complement of fine paper sessions, symposia, and invited talks. Look for sessions on choice, timing, delay and probability discounting, gambling, variability, conditioned reinforcement, behavioral momentum, behavioral tolerance, cross-species analysis, complex stimulus control, and social behavior, to name just a few. There are as well several sessions on translational research, aimed at bridging the gap between laboratory and applied work. Also of note is a session on IRBs and IACUCs, addressing issues of increasing regulatory burdens faced by researchers in various settings.
The B. F. Skinner Lecture Series, designed to highlight cutting-edge work in disciplines outside of but compatible with behavior analysis, include some choice offerings in 2008, on areas ranging from drug self-administration and comparative cognition to social behavior and cultural selection:
- Drake Morgan: Neurobiology of Cocaine Self-administration: Some Findings in Monkeys and Rats
- William Woolverton: The Choice to Take a Drug of Abuse: Contributions of Research with Non-Humans
- Herbert Roitblat: Object Recognition by Dolphins
- Peter Richerson: Not By Genes Alone: How Culture Transformed Human Evolution
- Walter Mischel: Finding the Consistency of Social Behavior in its Stable Variability
Some close relatives, some distant but interesting cousins, these lectures provide wonderful opportunities to learn more about exciting developments in related disciplines, and to expand our science to new areas.
Affiliation with other Science Organizations
Expanding our scientific roots includes seeking out productive interchanges with other scientific organizations. The 2008 convention provide opportunities for scientific synergism with other scientific groups, such as APS (see Critchfield article) and the Society for the Quantitative Analyses of Behavior (SQAB), which traditionally holds its annual meeting in conjunction with, and just prior to, the ABA Convention. In addition to SQAB’s usually strong program, this year’s closing event is an open discussion among distinguished scientists on fundamental problems in the analysis of behavior (e.g., molar vs molecular debate, behavioral economics, timing, neurobiological approaches, to name a few). The SQAB Preeminent Scholar Tutorial, held as part of the ABA program, provides another strong series of talks designed for students and non-specialists.
In closing, science is alive and well in behavior analysis. Whether you are a laboratory researcher, an applied researcher, an educator, a practitioner, or just someone interested in science, please join us in celebrating and expanding our scientific foundations at ABA 2008 in Chicago.