Webinar Series
Perspectives on Behavioral Complexity
Carol Pilgrim (University of North Carolina Wilmington) and Tim Hackenberg (Reed College)
Date: October 15th
Time: 11:00 AM Eastern
Abstract: In this session we will discuss the importance of conceptual foundations to the field of behavior analysis and highlight some themes of the upcoming ABAI Theory and Philosophy conference. The intended audience is for behavior analysts at all levels.
At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) define radical behaviorism; (2) describe the importance of conceptual foundations to the field of behavior analysis; (3) describe an example of behavioral complexity.
Instruction Level: Novice
Biography: Dr. Carol Pilgrim received her Ph.D. from the University of Florida in 1987 with a specialization in the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. She is currently Professor Emerit in the Psychology Department at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, where she has been honored with a Distinguished Teaching Professorship (1994-1997), the North Carolina Board of Governors Teaching Excellence Award (2003), the Faculty Scholarship Award (2000), and the Graduate Mentor Award (2008). She received the Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence Award and the College of Arts and Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award in 1992, the ABAI Student Committee Outstanding Mentor Award in 2006, and the ABAI Distinguished Service to Behavior Analysis award in 2017, among other honors. Her research contributions include both basic and applied behavior analysis, with an emphasis in human operant behavior, relational stimulus control, and the early detection of breast cancer. Dr. Pilgrim has served as editor of The Behavior Analyst, associate editor of the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior and The Behavior Analyst, co-editor of the Experimental Analysis of Human Behavior Bulletin, and as a member of the editorial boards of those and several other journals. She is a Fellow of the Association for Behavior Analysis International and of Division 25 of the American Psychological Association. She has served as President of the Association for Behavior Analysis twice, as well as President of the Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis, Division 25 of the American Psychological Association, and the Southeastern Association for Behavior Analysis. Additionally, she has been Member-at-large of the Executive Council of ABA and Division 25, and member of the Boards of Directors of the Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, the Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis, and the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies.
Biography: Tim Hackenberg received a B.A. degree in Psychology from the University of California, Irvine in 1982 and a doctorate in Psychology from Temple University in 1987, under the supervision of Philip Hineline. He held a post-doctoral research position at the Institute for Disabilities Studies at the University of Minnesota with Travis Thompson from 1988-90. He served on the faculty in the Behavior Analysis program at the University of Florida from 1990-2009, and at Reed College, until his retirement in 2022. He serves currently as Editor-in-Chief for Perspectives on Behavior Science, and as an Associate Editor Frontiers in Psychology (Comparative). He has served as an Associate Editor of the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior and served on the Board of Directors of the Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, of the Society for the Quantitative Analysis of Behavior, as President of Division 25 of the American Psychological Association, as the Experimental Representative to the ABAI Council, and as the Director of the ABAI Science Board. His major research interests are in the area of behavioral economics and comparative cognition, with a particular emphasis on decision-making, token economies, and social behavior. In work funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, he and his students have developed procedures for cross-species comparisons of complex behavior. He now lives in England with his two dogs and one wife, where he enjoys walking in the forest, and watching the daily drama unfold at the bird feeder in the garden.