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| PCH Monday Poster Session |
| Monday, May 26, 2025 |
| 1:00 PM–3:00 PM |
| Convention Center, Lower Level, Hall C |
| Chair: Andres H. Garcia-Penagos (California State University, Chico) |
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 140. Behavior Analysts’ Training and Practices Regarding Cultural Diversity: A Replication and Extension |
| Area: PCH; Domain: Service Delivery |
| MELISSA VALDEZ-NUGUID (University of Nebraska Medical Center's Munroe Meyer Institute), Catalina Rey (University of Nebraska Medical Center's Munroe-Meyer Institute), Paige O'Neill (University of Nebraska Medical Center - Munroe-Meyer Institute), Corina Jimenez-Gomez (University of Florida), Zeinab Hedroj (University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Munroe-Meyer Institute) |
| Discussant: Andres H. Garcia-Penagos (California State University, Chico) |
| Abstract: Culturally responsive care has a crucial role in client safety, satisfaction, dignity, and self-determination. Despite its importance, little is known about behavior analysts’ training and practices in this area. Beaulieu and colleagues (2019) surveyed Board Certified Behavior Analysts at the master’s and doctoral level to assess their training, education, and self-reported skill level in this area. Since these data were published, there has been a stark increase in published literature, behavior analytic conference presentations, continuing education events, and awards related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. Additionally, the latest Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts mandates professional development for the acquisition of culturally responsive service delivery. Given the likelihood that the training and education of behavior analysts on culturally responsive care has evolved in recent years, we replicated and extended Beaulieu et al. Our findings highlight the current status of behavior analysts’ training and education in this area, as well as an analysis of the barriers behavior analysts face in providing culturally responsive care. |
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| 141. The Role of Mass Media and Social Media in Perspective-Taking: A Behavior-Analytic Interpretation |
| Area: PCH; Domain: Service Delivery |
| TANYA HOUGH (The Chicago School
Potential Inc), Jack Spear (The Chicago School) |
| Abstract: Cultural evolution is based on variations in contingencies in the natural environment, such as the employment of mass media and social media. Cultural events and experiences have a powerful impact in shaping a person or population's perspective. Perspective taking is a skill that is shaped overtime to one’s learning history, cultural experiences, familial experiences, and schedules, reinforcement, and punishment and influenced by contextual environmental factors, as well as natural contingencies and schedules of reinforcement and punishment. The role of mass media and evolution of social media have altered how information is presented and received within a given population. Narratives are tools used to influence public and private opinion. Narratives have been employed by social media, generalized to mass media, and challenged the value placed in perspective taking. This paper provides a contextual behavior analytic perspective on the impact of mass media and social media and the use of narratives on the decreased value placed on developing perspective-taking skills. This paper will further explore the future direction of contextual behavior analytic research to further understand the impact of social media and narratives on cultural events and changes in the presentation of mass media, expand a culturally/contextual behavior analytic understanding on the value and necessity of perspective taking. |
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| 142. Insurance Practices and Regulations vs. the Ethical Compliance Code: Can We Find a Balance |
| Area: PCH; Domain: Service Delivery |
| ABBY OVERSTREET (University of Mississippi), Kayla Crook (University of Mississippi), Victoria Diane Hutchinson (University of Mississippi), Cailyn Rape (University of Mississippi), Gaby Gonzales (University of Mississippi) |
| Discussant: Andres H. Garcia-Penagos (California State University, Chico) |
| Abstract: Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy has become a cornerstone in the treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), yet its accessibility and application remain constrained by insurance policies. While all U.S. states now mandate health insurance coverage for ASD testing and ABA therapy, this coverage is limited to individuals with formal ASD diagnoses. Many insurance programs exclude individuals with conditions such as ADHD or those needing behavioral interventions in non-ASD contexts, potentially limiting the scope of practice for Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs). Most BCBA training programs focus on behavior analysis as a complete science and do not provide an ASD-only specific education, complicating adherence to ethical codes that require practice within one's scope of competence. Insurance policies often dictate therapy duration, deny coverage for school-based services, and enforce rigid medical necessity criteria, which can be detrimental to client welfare. These limitations conflict with ethical standards that prioritize client well-being and seek to avoid discrimination based on age, socioeconomic status, or diagnosis. To ensure equitable access to ABA therapy and uphold ethical practices, insurance policies should broaden their coverage beyond ASD, addressing diverse diagnoses and treatment contexts. |
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| 143. Transforming the Transformation of Stimulus Functions |
| Area: PCH; Domain: Theory |
| Vilde Kalvik (Oslo Metropolitan University), ERIK ARNTZEN (Oslo Metropolitan University) |
| Abstract: Almost 40 years ago, Relational Frame Theory (RFT) emerged as a behavioral analytic approach to human language and cognition. RFT aspires to account for relational responding beyond equivalence relations by expanding on the stimulus equivalence paradigm. When stimuli are related in patterns of arbitrarily applicable relational responding (AARR) other than sameness, the behavioral functions of one stimulus may be modified or transformed by the functions of another stimulus in terms of the type of relation between the two. As such, transformations of stimulus function may account for some idiosyncrasies in the behavioral repertoires of individuals. The last decade has brought a surge in conceptual developments within the RFT framework, including new ways to interpret transformation of stimulus functions. Coincidentally, there is a growing interest in function transformation among behavior-analytic research communities not traditionally associated with RFT. Based on findings from a systematic review of published articles, the poster will provide insight into the current discourse and research involving transformation of stimulus function. The findings suggest an increasingly unified effort to provide a more comprehensive behavioral account of complex human phenomena. |
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| 144. Reporting of Reinforcement Schedules in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Area: PCH; Domain: Applied Research |
| STEPHANIE HOPE JONES (Salve Regina University), Sofia E. Abuin (Salve Regina University), Natalie Ruth Shuler (Kind Behavioral Health), Michael Steele Yencha (Salve Regina University) |
| Discussant: Andres H. Garcia-Penagos (California State University, Chico) |
| Abstract: Applied behavior analysts are ethically obligated to use positive reinforcement and to ensure that their interventions are conceptually systematic with the science of behavior analysis. Careful selection and use of behavior-consequence contingencies (i.e., the schedule of reinforcement) are essential for ensuring that said ethical obligation is met, as is the precise reporting thereof. However, it is unclear what schedules of reinforcement are commonly used and reported in applied research. To address this issue, we analyzed the reporting of reinforcement schedules in experiments published in the last five years (2019-2024) of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. Experiments were coded for the explicit report of a schedule (e.g., fixed-ratio 1 schedule) and descriptions of schedules. We found that schedules are generally not explicitly reported and that when they are not explicitly reported but described they are not always described with sufficient detail to identify the underlying schedule of reinforcement. Discussions of implications and future directions for research are discussed. |
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