Newsletter
Volume 31 | 2008 | Number 1
Welcome to the 34th Annual ABAI Convention in Chicago
By Dr. Maria E. Malott, ABAI Executive Director/Secretary Treasurer
The ABAI leadership, Program Committee, and staff are very excited once again to offer registrants of our annual convention in Chicago an outstanding program. This is ABAI’s flagship event and has been a key venue for the dissemination of behavior analysis science, education, practice, and professional issues for 34 years. Over the past seven years, an average of 93% of respondents to our annual convention survey rated the ABAI convention as “excellent” or “very good.” We appreciate such positive feedback and continue enhancing the program and services at the annual convention.
We anticipate over 4,000 participants from more than 40 countries. The convention serves as a network center for ABAI’s 30 special interest groups, 58 affiliated chapters, organizational members, and graduate programs, including many of the 19 ABAI-accredited programs. The ABAI Expo highlights these groups, displaying 115 posters about accredited graduate programs, chapters, special interest groups, ABAI Boards and Committees, and many others. We also have a special event sponsored by the Student Committee for all members, the Behavioral Bash, and the annual ABAI Social, each providing an opportunity for ABAI members to socialize and celebrate.
This year we are honored to host the 2008 Presidential Scholar, Dr. Gary Stanley Becker from the University of Chicago. Dr. Becker is a Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007. In his address, he illustrates his socioeconomic theory on aspects of marriage and divorce in the United States.
Integral to our program is ABAI’s distinguished B. F. Skinner Lecture series, which was created to include leaders from complementary disciplines in our program. This is a wonderful opportunity not only to learn from scholars outside our field, but to provide a comprehensive perspective of behavior analysis to them. This year’s topics address research on social information processing in people with autism, presented by Dr. James McPartland (Yale Child Study Center) , insights on the neurobiology of drug abuse from Dr. Drake Morgan (University of Florida) , biochemical theories of mental illness as explained by Dr. Elliot Valenstein (University of Michigan), and perception systems of dolphins by Dr. Herbert Roitblat (DolphinSearch Inc.).
The opening event recognizes leaders in behavior analysis with the 2008 Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis (S ABA) Awards. This year we celebrate the accomplishments of Dr. Edmund Fantino (Distinguished Service); Dr. Michael Keenan (Public Service); Dr. Linda Hayes (International Development); Dr. Murray Sidman (Impact of Science on Application); and the Kennedy Krieger Institute (Enduring Programmatic Contributions).
New this year is our “State of the Science” lecture series, which highlights ABAI’s scientific foundation in specific domains of research and theory, including extensions to new areas of science and application within the field. Some highlights include: Dr. Edmund Fantino (University of California, San Diego): “Choice and conditioned reinforcement;” Dr. Tony Nevin (University of New Hampshire): “Stimuli, reinforcers and private events;” Dr. Murray Sidman: “Reflections on stimulus control;” and Dr. Travis Thompson (University of Minnesota ): “Behavioral and brain mechanisms of self-awareness.” A total of 49 program events and over 100 posters pertain to experimental analysis of behavior. This year’s program also includes a special event featuring Dr. Paige McDonald, chief of the Basic and Biobehavioral Research Branch at the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
Additionally, the Association for Psychological Science (APS), a large and well-respected Washington-based organization dedicated to the advancement of scientific psychology, will host its convention nearby at the Sheraton Chicago from May 22nd to the 25th, providing a unique and valuable opportunity for scholarly exchange. ABAI and APS have arranged for registered attendees of either convention to attend both conferences at no additional cost. All ABAI convention attendees will be able to visit the APS convention. This is a great opportunity, and if you are interested in attending APS, please let us know at convention@abainternational.org to help us coordinate logistics.
In support of practice, the program contains a wide variety of topics representing the breath of applied work in behavior analysis. There are 279 events that pertain to autism, 137 focus on developmental disabilities, 47 concern organizational behavior management, 148 center on education, and a significant number of additional events are in other areas of application.
Likewise, ABAI provides a home for updates about professional issues facing behavior analysts. Several talks highlight certification, legislation, and advocacy. Meetings and informational/training sessions will address the demand for credentials for behavior analysts and developments within the Behavior Analyst Certification Board® and the ABAI Practice Board, including proposed specialty credentials, non-U.S. certification, and new disciplinary standards for certificants.
On education, the convention offers over 30 events on teaching behavior analysis, as well as many opportunities to interact with behavior analysis programs.
Continuing education is one of the many advantageous features of the ABAI convention, and it will be offered again this year for both psychologists and certified behavior analysts. Another service that particularly benefits employers and professionals is job placement. You will be able to learn about career opportunities and receive assistance setting up interviews. Furthermore, attendees will be able to peruse behavior analytic books in our bookstore, which will offer more than 500 titles, and will have the opportunity to meet many authors.
Drs. Ramona Houmanfar and William Palya, Program Committee Co-Chairs, with the support of Dr. William L. Heward, Program Board Coordinator, have once more assembled a very strong program with the dedicated time and contributions of the 24 Area Coordinators. Additional assistance was provided by Dr. Tom Critchfield, Dr. Tim Hackenberg, and Dr. Janet Twyman from the ABAI Council. Through their persistent efforts, our program has undergone a careful review (including revisions and rejections) to ensure high quality events. There will be 645 events, including 80 pre-convention workshops; 289 panels and symposia; 89 paper sessions with 246 papers; 26 invited addresses; 17 tutorials, including four SQAB tutorials; 13 special events; 59 business meetings; 18 reunions; and five poster sessions with 743 posters. Please see Dr. Houmanfar’s article on page 3 for more information about the program.
The complete 2008 program is now available on the ABAI Web site. Look there also for access to the on-line scheduling option, which allows you to begin selecting presentations and developing your personalized convention schedule. We hope to see you in Chicago for another terrific convention!