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| Opening Event: Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis Awards |
| Saturday, May 29, 2004 |
| 11:30 AM–1:00 PM |
| Grand Ballroom |
| Chair: Michael Perone (West Virginia University) |
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| Award for Effective Presentation of Behavior Analysis in the Mass Media: Ivar Lovaas, Ph.D (University of California, Los Angeles) |
| Abstract: If ABA is to remain a noteworthy and effective method of treatment, treatment providers must focus on a number of issues. (1) To what extent do data from one or a few individuals as in single-subject research represent other individuals of the same diagnosis or similar pre-treatment measures? (2) Does the beneficial effect provided by behavioral intervention last over time? (3) Can the treatment and data be replicated by others? (4) Data from Achievement Place (Wolf, Kirigin, Fixsen, Blase, &Braukman, 1995) indicate that, once trained, providers of behavioral treatment need to return to their original site of training to prevent drifting off criterion of mastery. (5) Can we develop quality control on treatment? Almost anyone can now claim to be competent in delivering behavioral treatment while citing the favorable outcome from data published by others rather than their own. Finally, it is not enough to pass on examination on the basic variables or reading a training manual comprising discrete trials training. The field has also become specialized over time such that a person trained in one model, such as in the UCLA Young Autism version of ABA would not be qualified to conduct treatment in another model such as the Achievement Place model or school-based programs such as programs at Rutgers or Princeton Child Development Institute. |
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| IVAR LOVAAS (University of California, Los Angeles) |
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| Dr. Ivar Lovaas earned his PhD in Psychology in 1958 from the University of Washington. In 1961 he started at UCLA and has held a full professorship since 1967. In 1995, he founded the Lovaas Institute for Early Intervention (LIFE), which is a provider of early intervention treatment for young children diagnosed with autism. He has received many honors for his work in the field, including the Edgar Doll Award, a Distinguished Research Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association, the California Senate Award, an Honorary Doctorate, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He has been interviewed on national television networks such as CBS, CNN, and the BBC. He has given presentations across the United States and the world, including Sweden, Germany, Poland, and New Zealand. Dr. Lovaas has close to 70 publications to his credit. Dr. Lovaas will give a presentation titled Some Concerns About the Future of ABA. |
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| Award for Distinguished Service to Behavior Analysis: Beth Sulzer-Azaroff, Ph.D. (University of Massachusetts and Browns Group) |
| Abstract: Dr. Sulzer-Azaroff will give a presentation titled Of Oaks and Acorns
Abstract: The seeds broadcast in the early 20th century have yielded a rich harvest within the field of behavior analysis. Founded in natural science, the analysis of behavior continues to mature exponentially, spanning the discovery and elaboration of fundamental laws and principles to its successful management of an increasingly broad range of individual and social challenges. The excitement generated today by the substantial progress in the well-being and improved performance of ordinary people, students, workers, managers, and many others can be directly traced to those humble beginnings.
Concrete examples are drawn from two different areas: The development, analysis, local application, and widespread dissemination of behavioral methods toward 1) educating children with autism and 2) improving the well-being of workers on the job. Elements will be traced from the study of the behavior of organisms in the laboratory, thorough single and small group analyses, to larger groups in contrived and natural settings, and even for wide scale dissemination. Today, the lives of tens of thousands of children, families, workers and organizations are improving as a result of these collaborative efforts. Beholden, as we are, to the accomplishments of our colleagues, we also share the responsibility for disseminating what we have to offer for the benefit of humankind. |
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| BETH SULZER-AZAROFF (University of Massachusetts and Browns Group) |
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 The challenges of attempting to teach successfully in an inner-city school, led Sulzer-Azaroff to the study of behavior analysis. As a doctoral student in school psychology at the University of Minnesota, she began her investigations of programmed instruction, autism education, and errorless learning. Next, while a faculty member at Southern Illinois University, she, her students and colleagues investigated and wrote of behavior analytic methods for motivating, instructing and managing student and teacher performance. At the University of Massachusetts, she helped coordinate a doctoral-level psychology program in developmental disabilities, meanwhile continuing her collaborative scholarship and research in behavior analytic applications within schools, families, and service and business organizations. Currently she is a Professor Emeritus of the University of Massachusetts and holds adjunct appointments at Florida International and Florida Gulf Coast Universities. At present, she is collaborating in the development and field evaluations of a federally sponsored distance-learning curriculum designed to teach the parents and teachers of children with autism how to intervene with behavioral methods. |
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| Award for International Dissemination of Behavior Analysis: Michael Davison, Ph.D. (Auckland University) |
| Abstract: Michael will give a presentation entitled Choices, Choices: How to Steal a Soul for Behavior Analysis.
Abstract: I shall present a methodologically novel hermeneutic quantitative single-subject analysis of the environmental conditions that may be required, in some selected cases, to wash the behaviour of an alien human sufficiently to produce an almost exclusive preference for behaviour analysis over other psychologies. I'll also celebrate the joys of not being trained in behavior analysis by behavior analysts, and suggest that the resultant variation and (I hope) selection will provide for a viable future for behavior analysis in the world. |
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| MICHAEL C. DAVISON (Auckland University, New Zealand) |
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 Dr. Michael Davison obtained a B.Sc. from Bristol University, U.K. (where he discovered behaviour analysis), a Ph.D. from Otago University, NZ, and a D.Sc. from Auckland University. His first job was as Lecturer at Otago University, then successively Lecturer at University College London, and then at Auckland University, NZ, where he has remained since, moving through the ranks to Senior Lecturer, Associate Professor, and then being awarded a Personal Chair in Psychology.
Michael was elected Fellow of the NZ Psychological Society, and Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand, by whom he was awarded a Silver Medal for research. He has served on the editorial board of JEAB five times, and is currently an Associate Editor of this journal and serves on the SEAB Board. He was the first International Director on the ABA and SABA Boards. He has published about 90 papers in JEAB and authored (with McCarthy) the much cited but little purchased book The Matching Law: A research review.
His research interests lie in the quantification of behaviour and choice, and he has recently become concerned with the neuroscience of choice, taking a 10% appointment to the NZ National Research Centre for Growth and Development. |
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| Award for Public Service in Behavior Analysis: Michael Hemingway, MS |
| Abstract: Accepted by Gerald L. Shook (Behavior Analyst Certification Board) |
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| MICHAEL HEMINGWAY (Behavior Analyst Certification Board) |
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 Michael Hemingway graduated Western Michigan University in 1971 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, and earned his master’s degree in behavior analysis from the University of Manitoba in 1976. After working as a behavior analyst practitioner for a decade in Michigan, he moved to Florida in 1986 to become Behavior Analyst Consultant for the statewide Developmental Disabilities Office of the Florida Department of Children and Families, and in 1994 became Senior Behavior Analyst there. In these positions, he coordinated and further developed the watershed Florida statewide behavior analysis services and oversight system. Michael was elected to the Executive Committee of the Florida Association for Behavior Analysis, and later served as FABA’s President. He was awarded the FABA Charles Cox Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997 for outstanding contributions to behavior analysis in Florida. Michael’s sphere of influence permeated all aspects of behavior analysis in Florida, and his contribution to the practice and profession of behavior analysis extended to national and international levels. Michael was a founding member of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board’s Board of Directors, and it was his leadership and commitment that ensured the successful transformation of Florida behavior analyst certification program into the international certification of the BACB. |
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| Award for Impact of Science on Application: John A. (Tony) Nevin, Ph.D. (Auckland University) |
| Abstract: Award for Impact of Science on Application |
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| JOHN A. NEVIN (Auckland University, New Zealand) |
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 Dr. John A. Nevin, known as Tony, studied marine engineering at Yale University and served five years in the Coast Guard before encountering experimental psychology, which proved to be surprisingly compatible with his background in engineering and physical science. His graduate studies at Columbia University combined human psychophysics and color vision with behavioral analyses of conditioned reinforcement in rats and matching to sample in pigeons. After receiving his Ph.D. in 1963, he taught at Swarthmore College until 1968. He returned to Columbia from 1968 until 1972, where he served two years as department chair. To the delight of his five children, he then moved to the relatively rural University of New Hampshire, where he remained until retirement in 1995. He now lives with his wife Nora on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, where he engages in community and environmental conservation projects while maintaining research collaborations in Utah and New Zealand through the magic of electronic communication, supplemented by occasional visits. The post-retirement persistence of his research and theoretical work on behavioral momentum is itself an instance of momentum, based on the many reinforcers he has been privileged to enjoy throughout his life. |
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| Award for Enduring Programmatic Contributions in Behavior Analysis: West Virginia University Department of Psychology |
| Abstract: Behavior analysis was born in a department of psychology, in a college of liberal arts. From there its influence and effects spread not only throughout the university but also to myriad applied settings that could only be imagined at its birth. The Department of Psychology at West Virginia University, and particularly its Behavior Analysis doctoral training program, through its graduates, students, and faculty has contributed to the web of multiple influences of behavior analysis in contemporary society. As the influence of behavior analysis spreads from its birthplace in the liberal arts and continues to evolve, it also is important to continue to develop and build on that liberal arts tradition and not abandon it. In departments of psychology, like that at West Virginia University, behavior analysis contributes to students' understanding of not only the behavioral sciences but also the humanities and other sciences. Behavior analysis places other psychological viewpoints in a different perspective, suggests a unique worldview to many of these students, and challenges them to question the nature of their own histories and personal philosophies. Such influences in the shaping of the lives of generations of young people argue strongly for the continued commitment of behavior analysis to the liberal arts and to psychology. |
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| WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY (West Virginia University Department of Psychology) |
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 Dr. Kennon A. Lattal will accept the award on behalf of West Virginia University Department of Psychology and will give a presentation titled Behavior Analysis and the Liberal Arts Tradition. |
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