2015 Guidelines for the Accreditation of Graduate Programs in Behavior Analysis
ABAI Accreditation Requirements for Master's-Level Courses and Examples of Content
The table below provides an overview of the requirements for master's program accreditation that go into effect January, 2015. The table includes the categories of content, requirements, and a general description of content areas to be covered. ABAI does not intend to dictate the content of specific courses. Content descriptions are included as examples only.
Categories of Required Content |
Hours of Instruction |
Master's-Level Examples of Content |
|---|---|---|
| Principles | 45 Expertise in Basic Science | The aim of this course is to develop students' competence in the use of technical terminology pertaining to the concepts and principles of behavior analysis. The contents of such courses might include such items as: contingencies of reinforcement, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement (escape, avoidance), conditioned reinforcement, generalized conditioned reinforcement, intermittent reinforcement, extinction, punishment, conditioned aversive stimuli, stimulus control, stimulus discrimination, conditional stimulus discrimination, stimulus generalization, establishing/motivational operations, response form, response function, and response generalization. |
| Research Methods 1 | 45 | The aim of this course is to develop students' competence in the application of single-case research methods in behavioral investigation and practice, as well as data collection procedures, analytical procedures, and graphic representation of data. |
| Conceptual 1 | 45 | Examples of course content might include Skinner's writings as primary sources. This course could also be more topical, organized around various themes (for instance, private events, phylogeny and ontogeny, and cultural design). Specific content decisions will be made at the discretion of the program. |
| Applied 1 | 45 | The aim of this course is to demonstrate the operations of principles of behavior in applied research in multiples areas of investigation and practice such as behavior assessment, intervention for problem behaviors, procedures to enlarge behavioral repertoires or bring behavior under appropriate stimulus control, among other topics. |
| Applied 2 | 45 | The aim of this course is to further demonstrate the operations of principles of behavior in multiple areas of investigation and practice, possibly as pertains to multiple populations (e.g., persons with special needs, teachers, medical patients, staff members, college students), in multiple settings (e.g., homes, schools, hospitals, workplaces), and for multiple response sets (e.g., parenting, academic, social, and interpersonal skills). |
| Ethics | 45 | The aim of this course is to develop students' competence with legal constraints and ethical guidelines as pertinent to behavioral interventions of various sorts, as well as intellectual circumstances. |
| EAB 1 | 45 | As an example, EAB 1 might focus on demonstrating the operations of principles of behavior in the context of basic research in multiple areas of investigation such as schedules of reinforcement, stimulus control, conditioned reinforcement choice, and establishing/motivational operations. |
| Supervised Practical/ Research Training OR Experience (e.g., Lab, Practicum, Directed Study, Independent Study, Independent Research) | 45+45 (2 courses for minimum of 360 hours of supervised field experience) | The aim of supervised practical experience or research is to prepare students for professional practice or continued research activity. There are many options for meeting this requirement; for example, additional coursework, supervised practica, independent study, or lab experience. |
| MA Thesis or Equivalent | Required: # of hours determined by the university | Equivalencies, as well as the number of required credits, are determined by individual programs and/or the requirements of their universities. |
| Totals | 315 hours of instruction (21 credit hours) + thesis + 6 credits of research or practica | The Accreditation Board is committed to working with educational institutions, allowing considerable flexibility as to how these requirements may be met, through a combination of formal courses, practical training, and laboratory experience. |
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