Newsletter
Volume 31 | 2008 | Number 2
Polish ABA
By Dr. Monika Suchowierska
The Polish Association for Behavior Analysis (PABA) was founded in 2000 by Jacek Kozlowski, Ph.D. and his colleagues at the University of Gdansk. Since 2000, PABA has been fulfilling its goals of developing and disseminating knowledge about behavior analysis as a science of behavior and about the radical behaviorism of B. F. Skinner as a philosophy of this science. In seven years, PABA’s efforts have concentrated on disseminating knowledge about conceptual, experimental, and applied behavior analysis to students and professionals interested in behavioral approaches in Poland. Specifically, in 2007, we had the following accomplishments (in chronological order):
- In early 2007, the Spring 2007 issue of Behavior Analysis Digest International (BADI) was prepared, for the first time, in two languages: English and Polish. Fall 2007 issue of BADI contains two articles by members of Polish ABA and this issue also will be prepared in two languages.
- In May 2007, Monika Suchowierska and Rafał Kawa attended the 33rd conference of ABA International in San Diego. During the conference, they had three presentations and a poster representing Polish ABA.
- Following the conference, Monika and Rafał traveled to Mexico to visit Los Horcones, a famous behavioral community. The visit was very successful and resulted in several presentations and one published article in Poland about Los Horcones and Walden Two.
- In June 2007, the first group of students (15) graduated from Warsaw School of Social Psychology, the first program in the country in applied behavior analysis. Some of the graduates will take the Behavior Analysis Certification Board exam in 2008.
- In July 2007, PABA assumed the patronage of the Center for Early Intervention Step by Step, which offers early intensive behavioral intervention to children with autism.
- In September 2007, PABA, together with the Center for Early Intervention, participated in the Festival of Science organized by the University of Warsaw. During the festival, behavior analytic methods were presented.
- In late 2007, PABA started to discuss with the National Autism Center the possibility of affiliating the two organizations.
- Throughout 2007, a group of PABA members worked on a glossary of behavior-analytic terms in Polish. The glossary is to be published in 2008.
- In the fall of 2007, a decision was made to hold a conference organized by PABA and Warsaw School of Social Psychology in April, 2008. The title of the conference was “Behavioral Psychology: Theory, Research, Practice”.
- In 2007, four meetings of PABA were held ( March 13, May 12, July 7, November 10) during which three lectures were given.
Although we are proud of PABA’s accomplishments in the last year, we have set high goals for ourselves for the next year. We want to “think outside the box,” that is, in ways that would present behavior analysis to broad audiences. Thus, in 2008 we plan to publish a glossary of behavior-analytic terms in Polish, strengthen the connection between PABA and the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies as well as the National Autism Center, make BADI a regular English and Polish publication, increase the number of Board Certified Behavior Analysts in Poland, and increase membership.