Newsletter
Volume 32 | 2009 | Number 1
Welcome to the 35th Annual ABAI Convention in Phoenix
By Dr. Maria E. Malott, Chief Executive Officer
The ABAI leadership, Program Committee, and staff are very excited to offer registrants at our annual convention an outstanding program for 2009. This event is ABAI’s most established conference and has been the key venue for the dissemination of behavior analysis science, education, practice, and professional issues for 35 years. The annual convention is the ideal place to learn of new developments in the field of behavior analysis.
This year’s program includes quality events across many areas of behavior analysis, including autism; behavioral pharmacology; clinical, family, and behavioral medicine; community interventions; social and ethical issues; developmental disabilities; human development and gerontology; experimental analysis of behavior; education; organizational behavior management; teaching behavior analysis; theoretical, philosophical, and conceptual issues; verbal behavior; and others. The program contains 1,633 events including posters, panels, symposiums, papers, invited addresses, workshops, and meetings.
The complete 2009 program is now available on the ABAI Web site, where you will also find access to on-line scheduling services, which allows you to select presentations and develop your personalized convention schedule.
The 2009 annual convention is a city-wide event and ABAI has contracted state-of-the-art convention center facilities to offer a one of a kind experience.
The core of the ABAI program will be conducted in the Phoenix Convention Center—one of the top 20 convention venues in the United States. The natural environment, history, and culture of Arizona inspired the design, decor, and construction materials for the Center. This newly completed facility is conveniently located just 10 minutes from the airport in the heart of Phoenix’s Copper Square, which features 90 blocks of urban attractions that include numerous restaurants, bars, and markets. You will also find museums, live theater, and music all within a short walking distance.
Adjacent to the Center is ABAI’s headquarter hotel, the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown. With 1,000 guest rooms, this 31-story hotel opened at the end of 2008 as the prototype hotel for upscale Sheraton facilities. Two additional hotels are nearly adjacent to the Convention Center: the Hyatt Regency Phoenix and the Wyndham Phoenix. For more information about hotels and additional overflow hotels, please visit: www.abainternational.org/convention/info/hoteltravel.asp
We anticipate over attendance from 4,000 participants from more than 40 countries. The convention serves as a network center for ABAI’s 32 special interest groups, 65 affiliated chapters, organizational members, and graduate programs – including many of the 18 ABAI-accredited graduate programs. The ABAI Expo highlights these groups and others, displaying over 100 posters from behavioral organizations. We also have a special event sponsored by the Student Committee, the Behavioral Bash, and the annual ABAI Social; each provides an opportunity for all attendees to socialize and celebrate.
This year we are honored to host the 2009 Presidential Scholar, Dr. Lonnie Thompson. Dr. Thompson is Distinguished Professor of Earth Sciences at The Ohio State University and a noted paleoclimatologist who is the recipient of both the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement and the National Medal of Science. Dr. Thompson’s presentation is titled, “Understanding Global Climate Change and the Human Response: A Paleoclimate Perspective from the World’s Highest Mountains.”
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 series features 12 lecture; among them a talk surrounding the considerations of autism spectrum disorders from Dr. G. B. Schaefer (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences); Dr. Frederic Wagner (Department of Wildland Resources, Utah State University) speaking about the effects of global warming and the human solutions; Dr. Robert Cialdini’s (Arizona State University) lecture on the roles of social factors on behavior change; and Dr. Fiona Cowie’s address on the topic of the learnedness of language.
In keeping with the commitment of the Association to develop science and practice in tandem, the ABAI Science and Practice Boards have joined efforts to co-sponsor events on the translation of basic science to application. See pages 25 - 29 for highlights of events developed and promoted by the Science and Practice Boards both cooperatively and separately.
The opening event recognizes leaders in the field with the 2009 Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis (SABA) Awards. This year we celebrate the accomplishments of Dr. Brian Iwata (Distinguished Service); Dr. Thomas L. McKenzie (Public Service); Dr. João Claudio Todorov (International Development); Dr. Travis Thompson (Impact of Science on Application); Amos Rolider (Presentation in the Mass Media); and the Experimental Analysis of Behaviour Research Unit at the University of Auckland, New Zealand (Enduring Programmatic Contributions).
Continuing education (CE) is one of the many advantageous features of the ABAI convention and will be offered again this year for both psychologists and certified behavior analysts. Another service that particularly benefits employers and professionals is job placement. Guests will be able to learn about career opportunities and receive assistance arranging 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. Raymond G. Miltenberger, Program Board Coordinator, have once more assembled a very strong program with the dedicated time and contributions of the 24 Area Coordinators. Through their persistent efforts, our program has undergone a careful review (including revisions and rejections) to ensure high quality events. Please see Dr. Houmanfar’s article on page 4 for more information about the program.
We hope to see you in Phoenix for another terrific convention!