Association for Behavior Analysis International

One key to the success of our students at the Centro Ann Sullivan in Peru- CASP is what we call the "Power of Two," where families and professionals work as a team. Dr. Mayo founded The School of Families of CASP 39 years ago with just 8 students and their families and now educates more than 450 families each year. At CASP, families are partners in the education of their children. Together with CASP professionals, they work as a team to provide the most comprehensive education for the students. CASP families receive a total of 171 hours of training annually, through group and individual sessions. Each family receives an Individual Educational Plan (IEP), updated annually, that outlines the skills they need to learn to be the best parents and teachers for their child. These skills are then taught in the classroom, in the community, and five times a year individual family training occurs in the home of the student. CASP believes the whole family is important to the success of the student and as such, twice a year more than 400 siblings of our students attend training to learn skills for how to be a sibling and also a teacher. As a result of many years of continuous training, some CASP families are now creating a multiplicative effect by training other families across Peru through the Mother-to-Mother Program and internationally through long distance education.

Behavior analysis has been a translational science almost from the beginning. Even as Skinner warned against the mistake of allowing issues of application to affect the development of a science in its early stages (in Behavior of Organisms, 1938), he was already at work extending to human behavior the principles he had discovered with rats. This work would eventually appear in Science and Human Behavior (1953), Verbal Behavior (1957), and a series of papers on ways to increase the effectiveness of instruction (starting in 1954). At a more practical level, he invented the "air crib" to simplify infant care, a missile guidance system based on the visual acuity of pigeons, and a machine to promote student learning. Because translation is so deeply embedded in the behavior analytic Zeitgeist, it is easy to lose sight of it. In this brief talk, I will outline the development of behavior analysis as a translational science and describe some contemporary examples.

Under the leadership of its Executive Council, ABAI has been crossing geographical borders for more than four decades, disseminating behavior analysis globally. I have had the honor to be part of this dissemination, inspired by the belief that we can change lives all around the world. Although this award is for people or organizations demonstrating significant and sustained contributions to the dissemination/development of behavior analysis outside the United States, behavior analysts in the United States have long been role models for me; I have huge gratitude for these pioneers. Awareness of ABAI and of leading behavior analysts in the United States started early in my career: in 1982 I went to Harvard to meet B. F. Skinner, and in 1990 I was already a contact person in Brazil for ABAI. Brazilian professors in behavior analysis shaped my interest in international development, and Brazil now has one of the largest communities of behavior analysts. One of the ingredients of our success was the constant presence of model scientists and practitioners; North American behavior analysts were invited to visit our country to help build the field there. Fred Keller was the first, and we also benefited from the visiting professorships of such luminaries as Murray Sidman and Charles Catania all of whom made it clear that without science there could be no solid progress in our field; and without practice, no future. With these two elements in mind, we went abroad to convince people of the real importance of behavior analysis.

The Graduate Program in Behavioral Sciences (Programa de Pos-Graduacao em Ciencias do Comportamento, PPG-CdC,) of the University of Brasilia (UnB), Brazil awards both Masters and Ph.D. degrees. It has played a pivotal role in the establishment and development of behavior analysis as a science and as a profession in Brazil since 1964, then under the leadership of Fred S. Keller and Carolina M. Bori and the collaboration of Rodolpho Azzi, John Gilmour Sherman, Robert Berryman and James R. Nazzaro. Faculty members of the graduate program at UnB have a good record of publications in both national and international scientific journals in behavior analysis (including the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, the Brazilian Journal of Behavior Analysis, the Mexican Journal of Behavior Analysis), further attesting to the enduring contributions of the graduate program to the development of behavior analysis.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

In "The Operational Analysis of Psychological Terms," Skinner proposed that the science of behavior needs a contingency analysis of the contexts in which scientists use terms. A term is valid only when it increases the scientist's capacity for prediction and influence, and not merely when it produces socially mediated reinforcers such as the approval and agreement of other scientists. Years later, Skinner continued to evolve contingency analysis in terms of Darwinian theory, which involves variation, selection, and retention. In this talk, I will argue that the pragmatic aims of ABA hinge upon these two conceptual advances and that Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) offers practitioners a way to harness Skinner's conceptual horsepower in service of helping others. In the ACT approach, ABA workers start where folks are at and talk with them about what they value most. About love. Family. Pain. Laughter. Building this kind of connection with stakeholders in ABA is neither unprofessional, nor is using common sense language an invitation to mentalism. It is the catwalk from unworkable essentialism to pragmatic contextualism. In this talk, I will bridge the conceptual with the pragmatic by sharing single case design data from our work with parents and children.

BCBAs, BCBA-Ds, and others interested in bridging theory and practice.

The seminal research on equivalence relations by Sidman (1994) and colleagues, which commenced in the early 1970s, led in the mid-1980s to the development of relational frame theory (RFT; Hayes, Barnes-Holmes, & Roche, 2001). The tutorial will present an overview of this 30 year-old unfolding research story and will consider some empirical and conceptual issues that appear to require focused attention as the story continues to unfold across the coming decades. In particular, the tutorial will commence by focusing on the historical and intellectual roots of RFT, identifying the work of Darwin, Wittgenstein, Skinner, and particularly Sidman as critically important. The basic units of analysis proposed by RFT, as a behavior-analytic account of human language and cognition, will then be considered. The impact these analytic units have had, and still have, on RFT research will also be reviewed. A relatively new RFT concept, known as the multi-dimensional multi-level (MDML) framework will be presented. A recent model of specific properties of relational framing, the differential arbitrarily applicable relational responding effects (DAARRE) model, will also be considered. Finally, a case will be made to integrate the MDML and the DAARRE model into a hyper-dimensional, multi-level (HDML) framework

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

This session is coupled with, and immediately follows, a SQAB tutorial on contextual behaviorism presented by Dr. Dermot Barnes-Holmes. Panelists will be asked to speak briefly about their research program and to bring questions designed to foster discussion with audience members. The goal is to generate ideas and collaborative efforts among basic, translational, and applied scientists. The tutorial and panel discussion have arisen because the Society for the Quantitative Analysis of Behavior (SQAB), an organization that emphasizes fundamental sciences related to behavior analysis, meets immediately before ABAI. The tandem meetings of these two organizations present opportunities for attendees to hear about core sciences related to behavior analysis. The SQAB tutorials have provided an excellent spur for such discussions but we (SQAB and ABAI's Science Board) wish to take this a step further. This panel discussion, which represents a partnership between SQAB and ABAI, will create a setting in which basic and applied scientists, as well as practitioners, can meet to discuss applications of the topics raised in a SQAB tutorial.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Behavioral consultation (BC), wherein a consultant changes a target client's behavior by working directly with a mediator (e.g., K-12 teacher) who serves as interventionist, has long been an important topic in school psychology and applied behavior analysis. This presentation examines key historical developments in BC, such as the impact of Bergan, Kratochwill, and others' verbal interaction and competency-based training research, and then considers the state of current BC practice in schools and related settings. The presentation concludes with some speculations about how technology will affect future BC practice.

Practitioners who work with school-age clients

This tutorial provides a primer on open-source software designed for behavior analysts and behavioral scientists. The review includes an overview of existing works and highlights software designed to extend the range and precision of behavior analytic work. This tutorial also discusses the emerging role of open-source software and software repositories as necessary adjuncts to peer-reviewed works and evidence-based tools. For researchers, open-source repositories provide an additional means for increasing the transparency, replicability, and extendibility of existing approaches. For practitioners specifically, several open-source tools provide applied behavior analysts with additional clinical information that was previously unavailable without substantial time, complicated data collection, and statistical training. Topics covered will include delay discounting, applied behavioral economics, and severe behavior and the tutorial provides examples of how such software can be applied in both clinical work and research. The specific operations performed by these tools include non-linear curve fitting, model selection, inter-rater reliability, and time-based lag sequential analyses.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

The science of behavior change in children with autism is well developed and sophisticated. Much of the work of BCBA's in the school system involves changing and supporting the practices of educators working with these children. The science and practice of changing the behavior of educators lags far behind, however. Nowhere is this more evident than in low-resource public schools, where poor pre-service training, school resources, and organizational culture and climate all can contribute to inadequate implementation of evidence-based practices. In these situations, traditional consultation and training practices often don't result in desired change. In this presentation, I describe a 10-year public-academic partnership and line of research in Philadelphia through which we have developed the science and practice of supporting public school teachers working under difficult circumstances.

BCBAs and other professionals who provide consultation and training to teachers working with children with autism.

Creating work environments that allow humans to thrive and be healthy over time, while also collaborating to increase efficiency in their work is a challenge for any kind of organization. Developing key skills and behaviors that become a natural part of the day to day work is a challenge for every behavior change consultant. An evidence-based kernel is a behavior–influence procedure shown through experimental analysis to affect specific behaviors (Embry & Biglan, 2008). Existing evidence shows that a variety of kernels can influence behavior in context, and evidence suggests that frequent or sufficient use of some kernels may produce longer lasting behavioral shifts. Nurturing Environments (Biglan, Flay, Embry & Sandler, 2012; Biglan, 2015) describes key areas in evolving a healthy culture: minimizing toxic social conditions, increasing reinforcement of prosocial behaviors, limiting problem behaviors, and promoting psychological flexibility in the pursuit of one’s values and goals. This presentation will show how these concepts, coming from research in prevention, can be applied in various ways in non-clinical contexts, with special focus on organizations, groups and communities.

Professionals working with behavior change in any context, interested in doing practical work in evolving leadership, organizations and groups.

Ecology is the study of how organisms relate to one another and to their physical environment. This tutorial presents three insights from an ecological approach to investigating the scientific behavior of behavior analysts. First, longstanding discussions of "foxes" and "hedgehogs" have divided us into behavior analysts who use a broad range of skills and those who rely on a more specialized skillset, but additional categories may be valuable as well. Second, we are all products of the training we receive. From an ecological perspective, behavior analysis training programs can be K-selective or r-selective, either investing heavily in a small number of students or training as many students as possible, with less time and resources invested in each one. Finally, organizing behavior analysis research into a taxonomy, as ecologists have organized life on earth, may help to identify knowledge gaps and emerging areas of future research. One system classifies the spectrum of empirical behavior analysis research into tiers based on the research subjects, target behavior, relevant stimuli and setting used. Viewing behavior analysts, training programs and research output as an ecosystem can enable us to apply the enormously successful methods of science to our own affairs.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

ECHO Autism is an innovative model that leverages video-conferencing technology to create virtual learning networks of community providers. Community Providers regularly share deidentified case information with a team of experts who mentor through best practice strategies. ECHO Autism is reaching thousands of children in North America by training their primary care physicians and therapists. ECHO Autism for Primary Care Physicians/Practitioners focuses on increasing self-efficacy in identifying symptoms of autism and managing common medical and psychiatric comorbidities. ECHO Autism ABA and ECHO Autism School Psychology are other iterations of the model being used to disseminate and mentor best practice methods in rural and underserved communities.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Much of public policy has to do with how to formulate policy to either directly influence human behavior toward some common goal or consider the indirect effects of public policy on human behavior. From a behavior analytic point of view, public policy designed to influence behavior can manipulate discriminative control of behavior through advertising and education, offer reinforcers as incentives to shift behavior toward more productive or healthy choices, or introduce costs or penalties to discourage destructive or unhealthy choices. Underlying nearly all public policy decisions is a need to understand what sorts of things people want—what do people desire and how much will they pay for the things that they desire. Effective public policy harnesses our natural desires and directs them toward more healthy and productive outcomes by offering new and better alternatives, lowering the perceived costs of desired alternatives, and discouraging less desirable alternatives. Framed in this way, we can see that public policy is all about behavioral economics—the science that quantifies the essential value of commodities and defines the cost/benefit relationships associated with those commodities. In this tutorial I will explain scientific principles and methods for quantifying essential value and demand for alternative goods. I will draw on animal studies using drugs as reinforcers, human studies of drugs as reinforcers and other commodities, and studies of both isolated demand for single goods and competing demand between several goods. I will show extrapolations of these principles to public policy to stimulate future research and application beyond the bulk of prior research. I will conclude by demonstrating that impulsive behavior that is also a focus of behavioral economics and public policy is, at its core, another way to look at the relative essential value of goods, with time as the dimension of cost.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Obstacles behavior analysts cite as reasons not to conduct functional analyses include the amount of time, complexity, and safety of functional analyses, and the potential inability to address multiple topographies of problem behavior at once. The current symposium will address these and related issues through evaluations of (a) components of functional analyses, (b) the utility of different models of functional analysis, (c) social acceptability of consultant-supported functional analyses, and (d) procedures for promoting safety and addressing multiple topographies of problem behavior.

The target audience for this symposium is researchers and practitioners interested in the assessment of problem behavior. The ideal audience has a background in behavior analysis or works with individuals with developmental disabilities.

Since the publication of Iwata et al. 1982/1994, functional assessment has evolved to become considered best practice in the treatment of problem behavior for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (Fischer et al., 2016; Pelios, Morren, Tesch, & Axelrod, 1999). Though legal mandates requiring access to functional assessment are further evidence of the broader cultural importance of function-based behavioral intervention (Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, 2004), surveys of practicing behavior analysts conducted over the last 10 years (Love, Carr, Almason, & Petursdottir, 2009; Oliver, Pratt, & Normand, 2015; Roscoe et al., 2015) reveal most practitioners are choosing to run descriptive assessments over more rigorous experimental analyses in their own practices. To investigate this issue, we review trends of published functional analyses for efficiency and number of components necessary for a successful analysis.

Hanley et al. (2003) outlined the practical issue of efficiency in the use of functional analysis procedures. Recently, fervent debate has arisen regarding the use of standardized, synthesized, and other functional analysis. At times, standard functional analysis procedures yield zero-rates of problem behavior, perhaps because they fail to capture the true establishing operation, which may involve a combination of multiple stimulus events. In the current study, indirect descriptive assessments in the form of open-ended interviews were conducted and compared with standard functional analysis procedures as described by Iwata et al. (1982/1994). These results were then compared with functional analysis procedures derived from the results of the open-ended interview. Results suggested that in some cases, standard functional analysis procedures that yield zero-rates of responding were not congruent with the establishing operations suggested by interviewees. Revised analysis, including concurrent operant arrangements and synthesized contingencies, produced clear rates of responding under conditions described by caregivers and teachers during interviews. Finally, a trial-based synthesized contingency analysis was piloted that successfully determined behavioral function in under 30 minutes of session time, on average. Results are discussed in terms of individualized assessment, and using descriptive analyses to inform the design of relevant functional analysis conditions.

Practitioners report an almost exclusive reliance on indirect and descriptive assessments when conducting functional behavior assessments (FBA) of severe problem behavior (SPB) in school and residential settings, despite the absence of evidence supporting their utility when not complimented with a functional analysis. Practitioners also report that they do not conduct functional analyses due to concerns with safety, amount of time required, and lack of necessary resources. This project describes a collaborative approach for conducting effective functional analysis of SPB in educational settings. The process involved the collaborative conduct of a particular type of functional analysis referred to as an Interview-Informed Synthesized Contingency Analysis (IISCA) for students with SPB. With the consult of a board certified behavior analyst, the participants conducted interviews, designed conditions, ran sessions, and collected and analyzed data. All analyses yielded differentiated outcomes safely and quickly. Survey results showed that the process was considered sufficiently safe, fast, and effective by the practitioners for use in their educational settings.

Persons with autism often engage in multiple topographies of problem behavior. Conducting functional analyses of each form as recommended by Hanley, Iwata, and McCord (2003) may be too time consuming. As an alternative, we progressively applied extinction in test conditions that were differentiated from their control conditions to determine response class membership of multiple topographies of problem behavior. During interview-informed and synthesized test conditions, all reported problem behaviors were initially reinforced. Progressive extinction based on the procedures described by Magee and Ellis (2000) was then implemented during which problem behavior types were sequentially placed on extinction for four participants. Expedited or brief extinction analyses were conducted with the remaining participants in which all but the most concerning topography of problem behavior were placed on extinction. Results showed that all topographies of problem behavior that were reported to co-occur, including the most concerning topographies, were evoked and maintained by the same contingencies across all nine participants. We highlight the conditions under which a full or expedited extinction analysis should be considered when functionally analyzing multiple topographies of problem behavior.

Misophonia is an understudied but relatively common respondent behavior condition, the effects of which range from annoying to debilitating. Misophonia cannot be classified with DSM or ICD-criteria. Misophonia is known as a condition where commonly occurring innocuous stimuli (e.g. chewing sound) elicit anger and accompanying physiological responses which function as motivating operations for overt aggression and escape. Recent basic research on misophonia as a behavioral phenomenon has identified an immediate physical response (typically a muscle flinch) elicited by misophonic stimuli, which is unique for each person. Although there are some common misophonic stimuli, each person has a unique set of stimuli, which often includes auditory and visual stimuli, but can be any sensory modality. Misophonia is similar to general sensory sensitivity which is common with autism, but the management and intervention for each are quite different. Misophonia was first identified and named by audiologists and has been considered a hearing disorder. Recently misophonia has come to be viewed as an anger disorder and the focus of psychiatrists, psychologists, and neuroscience. Behaviorally, misophonia is a classically conditioned physical respondent phenomenon, and it may be more appropriate to view misophonia as a conditioned behavioral disorder.

Behavior analysts, other professional practitioners, and educators

Misophonia behavior patterns often impair multiple life domains, and once developed may persist indefinitely. Two adult participants with misophonia and no comorbid conditions were treated using a adapted counterconditioning intervention which provided a continual positive stimulus and an intermittent, low intensity misophonic stimulus. During the intervention, the participants experienced a physical reflex consisting of a skeletal muscle contraction, which gradually extinguished. Both participants had a large reduction in their misophonia impairment, and maintenance and generalization of the treatment effect. One intervention was a multiple baseline design, providing some empirical support of a functional relation. The intervention for one participant included live and recorded audio sessions. The second intervention utilized an automated stimulus delivery system (an iPhone app) which gave the participant real-time control of the counterconditioning parameters. These cases provide initial support for a counterconditioning treatment for misophonia, and they show that misophonia may include a physical respondent to misophonic stimuli.

Androids may be based on the behavioral developmental and evolutionary stage model: An Android is "computer based" synthetic organism designed to act like a human. We have created a higher order neural network that thinks, perceives, understands, predicts and manipulates better than insects. Our goal is to emulate the behavior smartest people as measured by their behavioral-developmental stage. Operant conditioning is based conditioning based on four instances of respondent conditioning: 1) respondent conditioning case pairs the reinforcer with the eliciting neural stimulus for the operant response. 2) Pairing of the now salient neural stimulus that elicits the operant with the environment event. 3) Pairing of the environmental event with the reinforcing stimulus.4) pairing of the stimulus elected by the drive with the reinforcement event, changing the strength of the reinforcer. Because of the simplicity of the calculations. These neural networks should be faster and smaller. The first three developmental and evolutionary behavioral stages are Order 1 tasks that are addressed with automatic unconditioned responses; Order 2 tasks include classical conditioning but not operant conditioning. Order 3 tasks coordinate three instances of these earlier tasks to make possible operant conditioning. Neural networks operate at this order as well as some invertebrates and all insects.

People interested in Computer models of behavior, androids and evolution of "smarts" in animals. No experience or knowledge of computer is required. Some background of Respondent and Operant Conditioning is required.

This session is coupled with, and immediately follows, a SQAB tutorial on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy presented by Dr. Steven Hursh. Panelists will be asked to speak briefly about their research program and to bring questions designed to foster discussion with audience members. The goal is to generate ideas and collaborative efforts among basic, translational, and applied scientists. The tutorial and panel discussion has arisen because the Society for the Quantitative Analysis of Behavior (SQAB), an organization that emphasizes fundamental sciences related to behavior analysis, meets immediately before ABAI. The tandem meetings of these two organizations present opportunities for attendees to hear about core sciences related to behavior analysis. The SQAB tutorials have provided an excellent spur for such discussions but we (SQAB and ABAI's Science Board) wish to take this a step further. This panel discussion, which represents a partnership between SQAB and ABAI, will create a setting in which basic and applied scientists, as well as practitioners, can meet to discuss applications of the topics raised in a SQAB tutorial.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Since before Skinner’s “Selection by consequences,” behavior analysts have acknowledged the natural alliance among the sciences that commonly rely on selection as a fundamental cause and sufficient explanation of behavior. In that vein, several behavior analysts have explicitly called for a closer integration of evolution and behavior science, and some have incorporated evolutionary principles in proposed expansions and modifications of behavior theory. However, it is only recently that a fully integrated, data-driven, evolution-based science of behavior has emerged with both conceptual and empirical implications for behavior scientists. A fundamental assumption of this approach is the reciprocal influence of evolution on behavioral processes at multiple levels of analysis, individual, symbolic and cultural. The participants in this panel are the principal architects of this integration, and each will discuss their specific conceptual and empirical contributions. A panel discussion format was selected specifically to allow audience participation in the discussion.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

The presentation will tell a research story about the search for verbal mediation in delayed matching-to-sample arrangements and emergent relations. By telling the story, a series of experiments will be presented. Terms as simultaneous and delayed matching-to-sample (DMTS) and emergent relations will be discussed. Research using DMTS procedures has shown that equivalence class formation has increased as a function of increasing delays between sample and comparison. For example, a 9-s delay enhanced equivalence class formation more than a 0-s delay. So, the question "why" has been asked. Thus, in research on DMTS, it has been argued that the naming the stimuli in the delay might bridge the gap between the sample offset and the comparison presentation. Therefore, we have tried to influence the matching performance by introducing a variety of distracting tasks in the delay between the sample offset and the comparison onset. The main findings from such experiments have shown how the tasks presented in the delay influenced the responding in accordance with stimulus equivalence. Finally, experiments employing "silent dog" and talk-aloud procedures have accumulated valuable information of what participants are talking about in the presence of the sample, in the delay, and when the comparisons are presented.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

The symposium includes four talks that broadly address instructional considerations when establishing new skills for learners with autism spectrum disorder. The first talk evaluated the acquisition of imitative responses that did and did not produce a permanent product. Parallels to basic research and clinical implications for imitation training will be discussed. The second talk evaluated the acquisition and generalization of yes and no responding across verbal operants. Results will be discussed in light of previous related studies. The third talk evaluated the effects of three instructional set sizes on the acquisition of tacts. Variables that may influence the optimal set size and considerations for clinical practice will be presented. The fourth talk evaluated the usefulness of a equivalence-based instruction to establish WH-concepts. Collectively, these studies support consideration for aspects of instruction to promote acquisition of new skills for learners with autism spectrum disorder.

Practitioners of behavior analysis and school psychology.

We sought to replicate and extend Shillingsburg, Kelley, Roane, Kisamore, and Brown (2009) by examining the acquisition and generalization of yes and no responses across verbal operants (mand, tact, and intraverbal). Three children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder participated. We identified four yes and four no targets per verbal operant (12 stimuli total) and used a multiple baseline design across verbal operants to teach yes and no responses as mands, tacts, and intraverbals. Training consisted of massed, 10-trial sessions with a progressive prompt delay of one yes and one no target response from the targeted verbal operant. Targets were considered mastered based on three consecutive correct probe trials, conducted each day before training sessions. Following mastery of each target, generalization sessions of that response (yes or no) across verbal operants was examined. We extended Shillingsburg et al. by conducting additional generalization sessions that included varied trials (yes and no targets alternated randomly within a session) across verbal operants following mastery of each operant. Our extension aims to address a limitation of previous research by examining the effects of varied yes and no generalization probes across verbal operants and the discriminability that single-response training promotes.

We used a pretest/posttest experimental design to examine the effects of teaching conditional relations among stimuli representing WH-concepts on the emergence of untaught relations, receptive and expressive identification of WH-concepts in sentences, and sorting tasks. Match-to-sample was used to train the conditional discriminations using a simple to complex training protocol and a linear training structure. Pretests for all relations were below 50%, with the exception of C-B, and posttest scores were at or above 80% for all relations. We also observed the emergence of sorting and receptive and expressive identification. Although new relations emerged following EBI and the task for sorting pictures into WH categories emerged as well, the participant still could not demonstrated other receptive or expressive identification tasks to criterion levels when the WH-concepts were in the contexts of sentences. Future training sets might include sentences as equivalence stimuli used during training. Implications for the limits of EBI with this learner will be discussed.

Many countries, including the US, the UK andNorthern Ireland, face continuing problems in developing literacy and reading skills in primary education with substantial numbers of children missing national literacy targets. Behaviour analysis of human development focusses on the need to specify key skills that comprise any higher-order activity and then train them explicitly in a program that is individualised for every child. In the case of reading, there is widespread agreement that key skills are phonemic awareness, use of phonics, fluency, guided oral reading, and acquisition of new vocabulary words. The Headsprout Early Reading program, developed by behaviour analysts, is an online package which targets each of the skills through intensive systematic phonics training. It thus makes use of computer-based instruction which, when used effectively, promotes higher levels of student engagement and enjoyment. A number of published studies of use of Headsprout have shown efficacy and efficiency in increasing the reading skills of individuals with autism and with typically developing learners within the classroom and home based settings. We have carried out several studies within mainstream schools in Northern Ireland using Headsprout to improve the reading skills of child at risk of failing to achieve literacy targets and have obtained encouraging results. The next stage is to achieve school district-wide implementation of this type of intervention. This requires us to meet many challenges in sustaining behaviour-based interventions in schools. Some of these will be outlined, and it will be suggested that, to improve our progress in this important task, we can draw on the huge literature on how to make interventions for autism effective and sustained.

All those interested in delivering behavior programs in mainstream education.

Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, and others have brought us innovation that both surprise and delight us. They not only produced new widgets, they are responsible for changing the way people live and work. Both advocated as essential the application of basic principles of science, engineering, and design in the creation of new technologies. Contrasted to reasoning from basic principles is reasoning from analogy. Much of what is created comes from this approach. In our initial design attempts we search for how others approached the problem. How did company X build an electric car? Reasoning from analogy may limit what we can do and prevent us from applying the full power of our science and technology in solving fundamental problems. Three products created at Headsprout, Inc. from 1999 to 2010 and the current approach taken by ChangePartner, Inc. today represent efforts to build applications at scale that rely on reasoning from basic principles. These efforts will be used to illustrate the power of the approach and suggest that searching for analogs, including, at times, previous applied research or applications, may be detrimental to applying the experimental and applied analysis of behavior at scale to new and interesting areas and problems.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Scientists cite clinical trials hundreds of times while decision makers use clinical trials and meta-analyses as the foundation for policies affecting millions. By contrast, JABA papers live a silent and unassuming life. Historically, applied behavior analysis has disregarded the potential for an "applied behavioral synthesis." The vast majority of our empirical literature is composed of experimental analyses of molecular processes often evaluating the impact of discrete reinforcement-based procedures on few behaviors of interest over a limited period of time. We lack a conceptual framework to translate experimentally sound baby steps into service and treatment models that have to be comprehensive and longitudinal in nature. This talk will explore strategies for synthesizing behavior-analytic evidence that would be compatible with both the single-subject experimental tradition of applied behavior analysis, and the outcome research standards of mainstream clinical sciences. The end goal of this approach is to develop efficient channels to translate applied behavior analysis into service models that policy and health decision-makers could find acceptable.

Board certified behavior analysts, licensed psychologists, graduate students.

The United States is in the midst of an opioid epidemic. Opioid use disorder is largely maintained through positive reinforcing mechanisms (a euphoric high following use of opioid agonists like heroin and OxyContin), and negative reinforcement (relief from the prominent withdrawal syndrome following removal of the drug in persons with opioid physical dependence). Opioid use disorder is distinct from other forms of drug use disorder in that numerous FDA-approved medications are available to address the positive and negative reinforcing aspects of opioid use disorder, including provision of opioid agonists for an extended period (maintenance) or reductions in doses over time (detoxification) to enable relapse prevention treatment. Yet, despite these resources a large number of patients do not succeed in treatment. Our research is using behavioral pharmacological paradigms to better understand mechanisms underlying individual differences in opioid response. The overall goal of this research is to inform development of new medications and methods to more effectively tailor treatment regimens to individuals. This talk will provide an overview of some human laboratory studies being conducted to inform clinical treatment of opioid use disorder and will present the results from some ongoing behavioral pharmacological efforts to examine mechanisms underlying individual response to opioids.

Board certified behavior analysts, licensed psychologists, graduate students.

Thomas Gilbert’s book (1978) titled “Human Competence” took us beyond training toward a rigorous approach to improving performance in organizations. His behavior engineering model has guided behavior analytic research and applications with an emphasis on parsimony, elegance and usefulness of associated methodologies. Throughout the years, the powerful partnership between Tom and Marilyn Gilbert leading to the publication of Human Competence, and many revolutionary training modules and consulting reports perhaps has not received the well-deserved acknowledgement given its impact and influence. By drawing upon their pioneering work in behavior analysis, Marilyn Gilbert and colleagues will highlight the impact of this partnership by providing an overview and discussion of Tom and Marilyn Gilbert’s unpublished account of human competence during the latter part of Tom Gilbert’s life. Moreover, the presentations will highlight the foundational influence of Gilberts’ Human Competence on recent technological advancements in instructional design and behavioral systems applications.

Academicians, students, and practitioners who are interested in performance improvement in organizations.

This presentation will provide an overview of the Gilberts' contribution to instructional design technologies that have revolutionized teaching practices in many educational settings. Gilberts' model focuses on designing the environment in which the student learns instead of changing the student. With the behavior engineering model, those responsible for performance improvement and maintenance can diagnose for, make priorities among, and plan performance improvement solutions in the classroom.

Tom Gilbert replaced what he called "the cult of behavior" with a focus on valuable accomplishments produced by behavior, a major contribution that launched a seismic shift for those who followed. This shift has been challenging, not only for applied behaviorists, but also for ordinary people. We are more accustomed to observing and discussing behavior, whether precisely or not, than identifying the valuable accomplishments produced by that behavior, especially when the accomplishments are less tangible than deliverables or widgets, for example decisions, relationships, or recommendations. Another of Gilbert's major contributions, the behavior engineering model, extended the variables of behavior influence from contingencies of reinforcement to a framework including physical and social elements of the work environment, prior repertoire, variations in reinforcement value, and other factors that are seldom relevant in research with starved laboratory animals in simplified experimental chambers. But Gilbert's labels for the cells in his behavior engineering model were not self-explanatory, and open to interpretation, challenging consistent comprehension, communication, and application. The presenter has adapted and refined these two contributions—a focus on accomplishments and a more complete model of behavior influences—using simple visual models and user-tested plain English to enable rapid communication and collaboration among performance experts, their clients and stakeholders. This presentation describes developments based on Gilbert's contributions, as they have evolved over several decades, and summarizes practical implications for enabling leaders, managers, performance professionals, and individual contributors at any level and in any function in organizations to collaborate for continuous performance improvement.

Although only briefly mentioned in Human Competence, Tom Gilbert wrote extensively about his method for teaching learners new concepts, principles, facts and skills, which he called mathetics. Mathetics included a generic instructional delivery procedure with three phases: (a) demonstrating skills, concepts, and principles to learners; (b) guiding learners as they practice; and (c) testing students to see if they have achieved mastery. Mathetics also incorporated procedures for designing instructional materials, such as how to identify and organize stimuli and responses from instructional goals, and how to incorporate behavioral procedures such as shaping and back chaining during instruction. I will describe mathetics and how it has been adapted as the core of instructional delivery in Engelmann's Direct Instruction and our own Morningside Model of Generative Instruction (MMGI). I will also describe the content of two important unpublished chapters that Gilbert wrote, which contain new ideas and procedures for mathetical design and delivery.

In high reliability organizations (HROs), procedural adherence to highly structured work plans is crucial to achieving organizational goals and averting catastrophes. BP's oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico (Macondo) was a bellwether event signaling the importance of managing interlocking human factors in HROs. Gilbert's BEM and vantage points provide a strong foundation for behavioral systems engineering to establish and maintain adherence to work routines in highly engineered, highly technical environments (e.g., aviation, nuclear power, oil & gas exploration, medicine). Two behavioral challenges face managers of HROs. First, crews need to follow well established procedures with little deviation to achieve milestones. Second, on occasion, crews encounter anomalies not addressed in standard work instructions. During these crises, crews must stop following standard procedures, assess changing conditions and adapt their behavior to the unexpected events in order to avert catastrophe. Behavioral systems engineering integrates human behavior with automated systems to adapt complex processes to changing contexts. Thus management of human behavior is one factor in a highly engineered system that can be designed to respond to both challenges (maintain routines, adjust to crises). This paper considers Gilbert's analysis for designing control systems of crew members' behavior in HROs.

Language is a complex adaptive system (CAS). Its evolution, development in learners, and use are historically contingent and emergent. Its patterns emerge from social interaction in an environment, which both structures and is structured by iterative language use. Frequently-occurring patterns provide the system some stability; however, change is immanent in the system, brought about by its users co-adapting to an ever-changing environment. It is this co-adaptation that is the source of creativity and innovation in meaning making in a pragmatically appropriate manner. This view of language as a CAS represents a challenge to more traditional views of second language development. It suggests that there is neither linguistic innateness nor an endpoint to the development, certainly not one that is isomorphic with native speaker use. It at least partly explains why there is ubiquitous variability in the process and why given the nature of the process the learner's linguistic system is free to develop along alternative trajectories. These claims will be supported with both corpus and longitudinal developmental data.

Researchers and practitioners interested in theories of language and language development.

Successful and thriving communities must adopt a strategic and adaptable approach health and wellbeing to create a sustainable culture of health. Now, while there is an increasing focus on mental health around the globe, is the time to broaden the reach of our science to support individual health and wellbeing. As behavioral scientists and practitioners, have the knowledge to apply our science to help individuals and the communities within which they live, learn, work, and play override their “default” actions, cultivate resilience, and develop supportive environments. In particular, the corporate world presents behavioral scientists with tremendous opportunities for large-scale interventions designed to increase psychological wellbeing, fueled by demand from lost revenue that could improve the lives of millions around the world. In this presentation, I will share my story and describe my experiences teaching others how to support everyday behavior and wellbeing using behavioral science. I will also share how my self-study in the area of acceptance and commitment training (ACT), along with my background in organizational behavior management (OBM), has enhanced my own life and has provided me with knowledge, skills, and tools to be a more effective teacher, coach, and consultant. Finally, I will share insights about the struggles I have encountered as an entrepreneur while conveying our science to those outside the field and how collaboration with other professionals is a key component to transforming culture on a large scale.

Professionals, including behavior analysts, working with behavior change in any context, interested in doing practical work to support the health and wellbeing of individuals and organizations; psychologists, behavior analysts, practitioners, and graduate students.

Delay discounting is, most simply, the decline in the value of temporally remote outcomes. Delay discounting represents a true success story for the experimental analysis of behavior: A procedure, born in the pigeon laboratory, extended in literally thousands of experiments across species, populations, domains, and fields of inquiry. What exactly is it though? Questions linger among behavior analysts about the validity, utility, and meaning of the procedures and processes. This presentation will try to address those types of questions as well as talk about exciting new directions and applications of delay discounting to problems of human concern.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

An obscene message written on a potato chip triggered the development of a radically different approach to dealing with disciplinary problems. Discipline Without Punishment is the innovative performance management system that replaces traditional disciplinary policies and procedures with a positive, responsibility-focused approach. Like conventional approaches, the Discipline Without Punishment procedure provides a progressive series of steps to handle the everyday problems of absenteeism, bad attitudes and poor performance that arise in all organizations. But Discipline Without Punishment gets rid of traditional disciplinary responses—like warnings, reprimands, and unpaid disciplinary suspensions—that focus on punishment. Instead, the DWP system requires employees to take personal responsibility for their own behavior and to make real decisions about their performance and continued employment. Unique to Discipline Without Punishment is the final step before termination: the Decision Making Leave. The employee is suspended from work for one day. He receives full pay for his time away. But this is no extra vacation day. On "Decision Day" the employee must make a final decision: either to solve the problem completely, or to quit and find greener employment pastures elsewhere. Dick Grote created Discipline Without Punishment. Through his books and consultations he has helped some of the largest organizations around the world eliminate punishment as a disciplinary tool and replace it with a system that demands personal responsibility. Dick will explain how he created the approach and why it has been successful for over 40 years.

The target audience is any individual who is responsible for managing the performance of other people; any individual who is called upon to provide counsel and advice about how to manage problem employees and solve performance issues; any individual who is interested in learning about the mechanics involved in creating and implementing a major management system that changes organizational culture.

The presentation will share curricula/pedagogy developed over four decades for MA and Ph.D. students, synthesizing basic, applied, and conceptual repertoires for educating children. Students spend days in R&D school and evenings attending university classes that reflect the training in the schools (www.cabasschools.org). Training requires mastery with criterion referenced measures of completion of progressively advanced modules that synthesize basic and applied behavior analysis reflecting Behavior Selectionist, Interbehavioral, and Pragmatism epistemologies. Component objectives will be described including: experiments, data decisions, errorless TPRA observations, applied and basic research summaries, accurate visual displays, and pre-verbal and verbal behavior developmental protocols to establish verbal/social cusps.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Modern zoos continue to transform both their mission and their execution as they reach the end of a decade’s long transition from animal attractions to sincere conservation entities. A heightened awareness of the science of animal welfare, the value of measuring behavioral outcomes, and the realization that zoos represent the last hope for many species has thrust us into a paradigm driven by natural history. The aim of this lecture is to highlight the modern approach to zoo animal welfare and the prevalence of behavioral science and its application to effective conservation programs. By using examples of how modern science has helped the management and conservation of species like the African elephant, I will review some of applications of zoo-based findings on in-situ conservation programs. I will cover some of the metrics used to measure animal welfare in zoos, as well as how the frequency and diversity of behavior can be used as a functional indicator of animal welfare. Finally, I will outline some of the strategies used to turn caretakers into stakeholders, primarily in cultures where animal husbandry and welfare are viewed in contrasting terms.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

This lecture will explain, by means of a theory of coordination, the relationship between matter, movement and mind. There will be a little physics (self-organization), a little biology (synergy selection), a little math (mostly nonlinear), a little theory (coordination dynamics) and a little experimentation (from fingers and babies and brains to ballet dancing and beyond)—all presented at the level of the proverbial educated layperson. The story is one of emergence, how spontaneous processes give rise to properties not usually ascribed to ordinary matter, but rather to living things, such as agency and goal-directedness. Paradoxical though it may seem, the self–the “I”– emerges from self-organization which, by definition, means the system organizes itself. In these open, complex systems, there is no organizer doing the organizing. The path, made by walking--as Machado would have it--is from nonequilibrium phase transitions in matter and movement (including motor development and learning) to the “eureka effect” of experiencing oneself as an agent for the first time. Who cares? Well, if you have ever wondered how mind gets into matter or how matter produces mind, please join me: like a choreographed script, the order of matter, movement and mind might be important. Phase transitions offer a transcendental mechanism, “the way in” to their relationship. Via symmetry breaking, “the way out” is the modern, metastable mind.

Everyone who is interested in a novel, or different approach to the age-old mind-matter relation and the possibilities it creates.

Board certified behavior analysts, licensed psychologists, graduate students.

Depression and anxiety in youth are prevalent and impairing conditions, with a high degree of current and lifetime comorbidity. Targeting the internalizing disorders as a unified problem area is in line with calls for new approaches to conceptualizing comorbidity and a focus on transdiagnostic processes. This lecture details a 15 year program of work to develop an efficient transdiagnostic brief behavioral therapy (BBT) for internalizing problems in youth focusing on the core behavioral process of avoidance of negative affect and threatening situations. Development of the initial BBT program is described, including illustrative cases. As a capstone, results are presented of a recent major randomized controlled trial designed to test the effects of BBT compared to assisted referral to specialty mental health care (ARC) in a large sample (N=185) of children and adolescents (age 8-16) presenting with anxiety and/or depression in pediatric primary care. Overall, BBT youth had significantly higher rates of clinical response than those in ARC (56.8% versus 28.2%), and these superior effects were replicated for anxiety-specific measures and functioning outcomes. Results were particularly strong for Latino youth suggesting BBT may help reduce disparities in care outcomes. Implications for the development and dissemination of behavioral treatments are discussed.

mental health professionals, intervention developers, intervention researchers, behavioral health consultants, primary care / pediatric care providers

Despite serving as effective change agents for clients, behavior analysts often struggle with motivating and supporting the educators with whom they consult. This presentation will propose a three-term model for targeting educator behavior, describe evidence-based performance management procedures, and share experimental data and case studies supporting the effectiveness of a behavior analytic approach to educator training and professional development.

Supervisors, consultants, educators, or staff interested in training others.

This talk will provide a brief overview of procedures used in the behavioral pharmacology of learning and remembering with a focus on prescription drugs used to treat clients with intellectual disabilities. The talk will also provide a more detailed analysis of research using novel procedures that vary the number of stimuli to remember as well as the retention interval. We will briefly review findings from the animal laboratory on drugs that impair learning and memory as well as the search for “cognitive enhancers.” Factors that have made it difficult to translate findings from the animal behavioral pharmacology laboratory to improvements in human learning and remembering will be discussed and we will consider the implications of these difficulties for the treatment of clients with intellectual disabilities.

Researchers and practitioners interested in the behavioral pharmacology of learning and remembering.

As with scientists and technicians in many fields, we applied behavior scientists use precise language and we value our language highly. In addition, we often value detail and complexity because they illustrate the depth of our analysis of behavior and of the variables that influence it. But when we attempt to engage clients, parents, colleagues in other disciplines, and others not schooled in our science, our language and the complexity of our analyses and models often become barriers. We must not be simplistic in our communication with others, but we need to learn how to be simple. We can accelerate our impact by using language, models, and concepts that make sense to ordinary people and are relatively intuitive for them. We want people to "get it," and simplicity can help. Carl Binder has spent the 47 years since he first studied with B.F. Skinner learning from masters in the field of behavior science and performance engineering, and attempting to pass on what he learns to others. He has consulted with, trained and coached educators, parents, clients, business people, training and process professionals, and others not schooled in behavior science. In this lecture he will trace a path from Skinner's elegant measurement technology through his own work in precision teaching, behavioral fluency, sales and marketing enablement, organizational performance consulting, leadership and management, and talent development with examples of how simplicity and plain language have enabled "viral" diffusion of models and methods in organizations and communities. Key takeaways will include the forewarning that things get complicated before they get simple, and that we need to develop intermediate vocabularies that link our science with the vocabularies and experience of ordinary people who can benefit from what we can provide.

Anyone who communicates about our science or application to people outside our field.

With behavior analytic laboratories closing and many of the second generation of scientists reaching retirement age, basic behavior analysis is at a crossroads. The applied area is strong, because behavioral methods have achieved recognition as the treatment of choice for autism spectrum disorders and because professional certification programs and state regulatory requirements have further solidified applied behavior analysis as an established therapy. But the future of the basic area is unclear. Furthermore, because basic science provides much of the theoretical underpinning for the applied area, the future positioning of the applied area as an academic discipline is also somewhat uncertain. Constructed as an imaginary presidential address, this presentation will offer an assessment of the current status of the wider field of behavioral science and make suggestions for the future role of behavior analysis within that wider field. In "Changing Course," a recent essay in The Behavior Analyst (Vyse, 2013), I outlined personal reasons for turning my attentions away from the field of behavior analysis. The current presentation will take a different tack, imaging a new course for basic behavioral analysis (with implications for the applied area) that might help ensure the field's continued contribution to behavioral science. Among the topics considered will be: (a) the role of theory in behavioral science, (b) the limitations of a field so tightly bound to a distinct set of research methodologies, (c) future directions for graduate training, (d) the role of ABAI, and (e) the prospect of behavior analytic contributions in as yet unexplored areas. Basic behavior analysis is not alone in facing existential challenges. The "reproducibility crisis" has had profound effects on psychology and other social and biological sciences. At this moment of flux, there are new opportunities for innovation and collaboration that could strengthen our field.

Basic and applied researchers who are interested in the future of the field.

Despite growing interests in the applied behavioral analysis (ABA) training from different constituents, China is still in a great demand for training more qualified behavioral analysts and other clinical professionals who can deliver effective ABA based interventions to Chinese children with special needs. Applications of ABA to children with ASD were first introduced to China in 1990s primarily through Chinese parents and parent-run organizations. Not until the dawn of 21st century had the first ABA delegation to China from ABAI taken place. Interests from the different constituent groups (e.g., professionals in the medical field, parents of children with ASD, professionals in various clinical or rehabilitation settings for children with ASD, and special education school teachers etc.), towards ABA kept permeating since. Yet the status quo and outcomes of ABA training in China are unsatisfactory and of most concern. In this presentation, I will provide a historical review of the trends and issues surrounding the ABA training in China through the lens of special education. Based on my interactions with a few Chinese universities over the last decade regarding ABA training to university faculty and students, I will discuss the key issues and challenges. Suggestions for improvement of ABA training in China will also be discussed.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Skinner argued that behavior analysis was part of the larger field of evolutionary approaches. Advances in evolution science and in a contextual behavioral account of human language suggest that human beings have common motivations that needed to be taking into account when dealing with possible reinforcers for human behavior. In this talk I will argue that a small set of typical human yearnings emerge from this way of thinking, and surprisingly, that these connect behavioral thinking to some ideas often seen as oppositional to behavioral thinking.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Life is full of choices between moderate-value rewards and risky higher-valued rewards (e.g., a decent restaurant that always has room versus a fabulous restaurant that is often full). One factor that influences risk preference is how these options are presented. When choices are described (common in behavioral economics), people are typically more risk seeking when choices involve losses (e.g., -$20 vs a 50/50 chance of -$40) than when they involve gains (e.g., +$20 vs. a 50/50 chance of +$40). In contrast, if outcomes are learned through experience (typical in operant research), people tend to be more risk seeking for relative gains that for relative losses. We proposed an extreme-outcome hypothesis, in which the best and worst outcomes have more impact than moderate outcomes on experience-based choices and on self-reported memory. In several studies, we have shown that outcomes at the ends of a distribution are weighted more, leading to biases in choice behavior and over-estimations in memory; moreover, these effects on choice and memory are correlated. The effects are also context dependent—outcomes are overweighted only when they are the best or worst outcomes in the current context. The fluidity of risky choice has implications for understanding risky behaviors such as gambling.

Graduate students and researchers interested in behavioral analysis, choice behavior, or gambling.

In this symposium, we will discuss the effects of escape extinction in the treatment of pediatric feeding problems and describe treatments for food selectivity that involve choices, progressively increasing eating requirements, and differential reinforcement of appropriate eating without nonremoval of the spoon. Our first presenter will discuss the effects of escape extinction and differential reinforcement on selective eating. Our second presenter will identify the prevalence of extinction bursts during escape extinction interventions for food refusal. The third presenter will discuss the effects of an intervention that involves offering choices and shaping appropriate eating using synthesized reinforcers. The last presenter will review a treatment package that incorporates choice, differential reinforcement, stimulus fading, and modified escape extinction (nonremoval of the plate).

Behavior analysts, graduate students, educators, practitioners

Repetitive and restricted response patterns are one of the core features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which includes "resistance to change," behavior. Children with ASD may display resistance to change in the form of food selectivity. In fact, Schreck, Williams, and Smith (2004) found that 72% of children diagnosed with ASD had these types of feeding difficulties. In the current study, we demonstrated that our behavior-analysis intervention reduced resistance to change in the form of food selectivity to clinically acceptable levels for two participants between the ages of 3 and 8 diagnosed with ASD. We were able to shift the participants' responding from resistive feeding responses (e.g., always selecting hot dogs and cheerios) to alternative, appropriate feeding responses (e.g., selecting healthier target foods like chicken and green beans) by using differential reinforcement of alternative behavior and escape extinction. The treatment effects maintained when escape extinction was no longer in place. These results have implications for the treatment of other symptoms of resistance to change as well as the generalization of treatment effects from one symptom to another.

Food selectivity is a pervasive problem and affects up to 45% and 80% of individuals with and without disabilities, respectively. Food selectivity and mealtime problem behavior have primarily been treated through differential reinforcement and various forms of escape extinction. Escape extinction, while efficacious, may result in increased aggression, gagging, or vomiting and, therefore, may not be feasible to implement under some conditions. In response, we describe a model for addressing food selectivity without extinction for five young children who were highly selective eaters. The model involved: (a) indirectly and directly measuring food preferences in order to identify foods that established mealtime problem behavior and other foods that could be used as reinforcers, (b) evaluating the variables maintaining mealtime problem behavior through an interview-informed synthesized contingency analysis (IISCA), and (c) incorporating the assessment results into a progressive treatment process that relied on choice making opportunities and differential and synthesized reinforcement of successive approximations to eating.

Food selectivity (eating a narrow range of foods) is a common problem in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Common dietary patterns in children with ASD include strong preference for processed foods coinciding with a bias against fruits and vegetables. Food selectivity in ASD increases the risk of underlying nutritional deficiencies and related medical complications, underscoring the need to identify effective interventions. While behavioral intervention is well-established for food refusal in young children, relatively few studies have examined treatment of food selectivity in ASD - particularly among older children who may require adaptations to established methods (e.g., non-removal of the spoon). This study evaluated the use of a treatment protocol involving choice, stimulus fading, reinforcement, and a modified extinction procedure (non-removal of the plate). Four male children (8-13 years) with food selectivity and ASD admitted to an intensive multidisciplinary day program received intervention based on established inclusion criteria. Mean number of foods accepted increased from 8 at admission to 28 at the time of discharge. These results provide provisional support for the use of this treatment package as an alternative to more well-documented extinction-based procedures among older children with ASD who can engage in a choice-based treatment model.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning to be "your own best therapist" may be essential to becoming a competent and joyful practitioner. An informed self-care repertoire often leads to satisfying ways to manage stress and deal with emotional issues; and, importantly, it prepares the practitioner to help other analysts take care of themselves and their clients. To accomplish such results, we suggest a self-care approach that draws from basic learning principles and self-management strategies, combined with the values, attitudes, and practices of mindfulness meditation. Using this approach, I'll describe how I revamped my daily life for a more satisfying and productive existence. Initially, the aim was to address health and emotional issues; later, the focus turned to maintenance and elaboration of skills learned. My procedures targeted both public and private events and included: direct and indirect measures, journaling, formal and informal practices, and social networking. Recent variants of the program use neurofeedback and experience sampling technologies to monitor and evaluate formal and informal practices, respectively. The outcomes have been remarkably satisfying, "cusp like" in nature, and impactful across several key personal values: health and wellness, relationships, professional and personal growth. Colleagues have conducted similar investigations and achieved satisfying results. College students have responded favorably to a program designed expressly for emerging adults, and selected graduates are being groomed as peer facilitators in the program. Our hope is to offer the program college-wide to help address growing concerns about students' health and wellness.

Anyone interested in the topic.

What can you do to support children who are aggressive and disruptive? Through an interactive Prezi presentation, paired with case studies, research, and a group discussion, participants will explore Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), attachment, temperament, emotional milestones, expulsion, and early childhood mental health consultation.

Mental health professionals, school psychologists, and educators who work with young children.

This panel discussion will provide a dialog on the potential schism between basic and applied behavior analysis. Panelists will discuss their experiences in the conduct of translational research that informs basic process or applied technologies. Panelists will also share their interpretations on what constitutes "translational" research, the role of translational research in bridging divides between basic and applied sciences, and how researchers might arrange translational research programs in ways that advance both basic and applied science. Finally, panelists will suggest potential fruitful avenues for future translational research.

Researchers or consumers of behavior-analytic research.

Stimulus functions are transferred or transformed across relational networks. Studies in our laboratory, for instance, have shown that evaluative functions of meaningful stimuli, such as facial emotional expressions, transfer to abstract stimuli equivalent to them. These abstract stimuli become symbols of the emotional expressions. However, stimuli related by opposition to happy facial expressions are subsequently rated as sad. This has been confirmed with several measurement procedures, such as Semantic Differential ratings, IRAP, Semantic Priming, and Event-Related Potentials. The influential cultural anthropologist Clifford Geertz has characterized cultures as sets of symbolic devices that control behavior. Transfer and transformation of stimulus functions across relational networks may be the foundation of a behavioral account of how symbolic devices control behavior. In this presentation we will focus on cultural phenomena such as attitudes, values, and aesthetic responses, interpreting them on the basis of transformation of evaluative, consequential and discriminative functions in complex stimulus networks. Thus, the concept of attitude, in mainstream Psychology, although not precisely defined, points toward evaluative responses to stimuli. These evaluations may often originate in direct conditioning experiences with the stimuli. They may also be based on experience with stimuli related by equivalence or other types of relations. Similar analyses will be advanced for values and aesthetic responses. Skinner defined values in terms of reinforcers, and studies have confirmed that reinforcing (and punishing) functions are also transformed in relational networks, so that humans may value stimuli based on their experience with related stimuli. Works of art constitute complex packages of stimuli that participate in complex relational networks. Although responses to art may, to some extent, involve phylogenic dispositions, personal histories will shape individual responses to a work of art.

Researchers or students interested in basic and translational research on stimulus equivalence and transfer of functions and social and cultural implications.

Applied Behavior Analysis has strongly been associated with American theorists and practitioners. The spread of ABA outside of the United States has seen consistent growth in the past few decades, although it is likely that the application of behavior analysis to school programs for children with autism in many nations is not meeting the needs of children and their families. Efforts have been initiated in multiple nations to begin filling that gap. Included in this session will be descriptions of educational services guided by the principles of ABA in the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, The Czech Republic and the Republic of China. Each presentation will provide a review of the status of efforts to spread behavior analysis to schools in each nation. Francesca degli Espinosa will provide a comparison of educational practices derived from behavior analysis in the United Kingdom with those provided in Italy. Marta Sierocka will discuss recent efforts to expand school based services in both the private segment and in public schools in Poland. Also included will be a discussion of an expansion of training opportunities in ABA. Recent work to establish a public school program in the Czech Republic will be reviewed by Amiris Dipuglia. That review will discuss details of the process of establishing a first public school class and the efforts of advocate parents in conjunction with international support to expand the effort. Finally, Mike Miklos will review a recent raining effort completed in Beijing Province to train a large number of educators on the basics of programming verbal skills for students with autism. Data from that training will be compared with the results of similar competency-based trainings completed with educators in the United States.

Board Certified Behavior Analysts Board Certified Associate Behavior Analysts School Psychologists Educators

Over the past four years an effort to develop a public school program based on the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis has been in progress in the Czech Republic. The first classroom opened it's doors to students in September of 2017 in the city of Prague. That classroom organization adopted in that class is based on a training model developed through the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network. This session will describe the political and behavioral training process which has resulted in a greater acceptance of ABA in public school programs in the Czech Republic. The necessary collaboration between parent advocacy, governmental agencies, various university programs, and the Behavior Analysis Certification Board has occurred. While the advent of single classroom is a milestone, the general goal is to develop a range of services in Czech public schools for students with autism across the country. A review of the initiative toward that end will be presented.

An increasing advocacy for evidence based interventions for students with autism has occurred in Poland. While there exists a clear right to education for students with disabilities, only recently has Applied Behavior Analysis begun to be incorporated into schools. At the current time, ABA services for children with autism are provided primarily by private schools and agencies. The base of support for ABA in Poland is through non-profit agencies. The movement to expand ABA as a standard for instructional design will be described. Recent legislation regarding the staffing of schools may have significant implications for behavior analysis in school settings. While across Poland, school-based autism interventions continue to be derived from an eclectic menu of intervention models, a dedicated group of professionals are forming coalitions to promote evidence-based practices in the schools. Further refinement of educational regulations and increasing the cohort of Board Certified Behavior Analysts are priorities for the development of behavior analysis in Poland.

In the past fifteen years, several countries in Europe have witnessed an increase in the application of behavioural analytic approaches to education. Although united in a common market, with regards to mainstream and specialist education, great differences exist among the various European countries. For example, in Italy, mainstream education is compulsory, regardless of disability and level of functioning. In the UK, mainstream or specialist school attendance is largely based on parental preference. Irrespective of key differences in the educational systems, in both countries, children with autism and their families face similar challenges in accessing state-funded evidence-based practice. The overwhelming use of TEACCH based approaches, Sensory Integration Therapy and, in some contexts, Facilitated Communication represents a daily challenge for behaviour analysts and the dissemination of scientific approaches to the education of children with autism. Despite such difficulties, particularly in Italy, the certification and practice of ABA have grown significantly in the past 10 years leading to increasing acceptance of behavioural interventions in schools and rehabilitation centres. This presentation will focus on key similarities and differences in the delivery of ABA-based intervention for autism between Italy and the UK and will illustrate some examples of best practice in Italy.

The results of a competency-based training completed with over 100 participants in the Beijing Province will be reviewed and compared to performance outcomes for similar groups provided the same training in Pennsylvania. Effective practice is reliant on effective staff training. Large scale training in the skills needed to deliver effective behavioral interventions is developing within the People's Republic of China. Participants at the training in China included mostly teachers, but also various providers of medical services. Access to school based ABA services is often the result of collaboration between medical providers and school services. Included will be a review of training outcome data in relation to participant acquisition of key conceptual skills and the practice of instructional protocols. The session will provide examples of training methodologies including choral responding, guided notes, and guided practice of instructional protocols. Training efforts will be discussed in relation to the overall movement to increase the availability of interventions derived from a behavior analysis for children with autism in China.

The successful dissemination of ABA methodologies into public school classrooms requires efficient, low-cost staff training models. In this presentation, I will describe a line of research on an intensive, five-day training program for public school teachers and paraprofessionals that covers foundational skills in ABA. Highlights from a line of research spanning more than 20 years will be described, along with the implications of working with teachers and paraprofessionals in public school settings.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

A subset of children with autism and related neurodevelopmental conditions develop persistent and clinically significant challenging behaviors like aggression and self-injury. Addressing this significant public health concern in an effective, practical, and scale-able manner has been one of the clear success stories of applied behavior analysis. Evidenced-based behavioral assessments and interventions effectively manage and treat a variety of challenging behaviors once they develop. However, this approach typically requires continued application of the intervention across a significant portion of the lifespan and as a result can be costly and resource-intensive. These potential limitations have motivated the start of a paradigm shift away from intervention and towards prevention. The search is on for malleable risk factors that occur early and that are associated with the persistence of challenging behaviors. In my talk I will describe our on-going program of research-to-practice activities in this area. First, I will discuss what is often taken as an overly simplistic “biology versus environment” dichotomy in this area. Instead of some form of subtyping, one could explore how behavior and underlying biology may change over time if the aberrant behavior persists. I will describe findings from our research that indicate that the persistence of challenging behaviors into adulthood can engender both behavioral and physiological changes - suggesting a potential interplay of biology and behavior that could conceivably drive treatment resistance over time. Next, I will describe on-going research focusing on isolating a set of pivotal child behaviors and parent-child interaction patterns early in development that are associated with emerging challenging behaviors in children with autism. These studies have focused on how language develops and interacts with early forms of aberrant behavior. Finally, I will describe our on-going research-to-practice work in this area that is focusing on developing and testing both home-based and a preschool-based approaches for preventing the development of challenging behaviors.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

When we set out to educate the whole child, we must design academic goals, provide instruction in self-management and self-instruction, teach problem solving, and promote expansion of the child's community of reinforcers (Greer, 2002). Often overlooked, but essential to each of these facets of instruction is the use of self-dialogue. Children talk to themselves at an early age in environments that recruit problem solving; self-dialogue occurs naturally (Berk, 1994). However, in the school environment the effective use of self-dialogue, which is essential to the development of reasoning skills, must often be taught. This is particularly true for children with special needs. This presentation will describe the need, and effective procedures for establishing reasoning skills. Two strategies presented include Talk Aloud Problem Solving (TAPS) and Question Generating. When equipped with these repertoires learners can tackle a range of academic and social problems that may otherwise occasion avoidance. A healthy educational environment fosters talking out loud, provides challenging problems, and values self-instruction.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Most people think climate change and sustainability as important problems, but too few individuals engage in mitigating behavior to stem destruction of the natural environment. Why is that? Structural barriers are part of the answer, but psychological barriers also impede behavioral choices that would facilitate climate change mitigation, adaptation, and environmental sustainability. Many individuals are engaged in some ameliorative action, but most could do more. They are hindered by seven categories of psychological barriers that include 40 particular barriers, known as the “dragons of inaction.” These include limited cognition, ideological worldviews, social constraints, sunk costs, discredence, perceived risks of change, tokenism, and rebound effects. Structural barriers must be removed wherever possible, but this is unlikely to be sufficient. Psychologists must work with other scientists, technical experts, and policymakers to help citizens overcome these psychological barriers.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Contemporary societies face critical, interlocking, "wicked" challenges, including economic inequities and marginalization, personal and collective violence, ethnic and religious struggles, degradation of "the commons," and climate change. Since Skinner's work in Walden Two and Science and Human Behavior, and especially since his Selection by Consequences in 1981, behavior science has explored the selection of cultural practices and processes, arguing that our science should offer unique potential for contributing to constructing just, satisfying, and sustainable societies. Cultural phenomena demonstrate high levels of complexity, however, while much of current cultural analytic scholarship by contrast remains relatively rudimentary. Current work typically is grounded in isolated laboratory experimentation structuring brief encounters with strangers, amputated from context and history; efforts to specify and negotiate consensus on terminology relying on analogues with operant processes; and post-hoc conceptual interpretations. We can do more (and different). Transdisciplinary work is crucially important for realistic intervention in cultural arenas, but our disciplinary partners also often operate from models that seriously oversimplify cultural processes (most public health interventions, for example, actually target individual behavior). Certainly a comprehensive and effective cultural science can only emerge within the natural science commitment that has always characterized behavior analytic science, grounded in contemporary selectionist frameworks, in partnership with other disciplines. There are however serious limitations in the standard formulations of our own and related sciences. Recent research argues that selection by consequences can account for only some, and in some cases the smaller part, of genetic, behavioral, and cultural changes. Recent advances in complexity science, dynamical systems theory (including self-organization and emergence processes), and non-Darwinian evolution can help, but behavior scientists have only begun to integrate such work. Most such advances have come at the basic level, with the exception of some recent organizational behavior management research. Something more is required to shape a cultural analytic science powerful and broad enough to address major societal challenges. In this presentation, the author will suggest that a framework integrating elements of the natural science of ecology and contemporary developments in systems science and complexity theories may be of particular value for expanding our science. Exemplars from recent field work, our own and that of others, will be presented within an ecological framework first outlined by Marston Bates, with particular attention to the potential of such a strategic direction to augment current behavioral systems science. Ecological science as outlined by Bates is highly recursive, integrating multiple transactional iterations of (a) rigorous observations of phenomenon of interest within their complex natural contexts, (b) the shaping of "conceptual schemes" emerging from those observations, tested against existing knowledge, and (c) (initially modest) experiments conducted under typical conditions in natural settings, designed in response to those observations and theoretical propositions, all (d) facilitated by the development of new measurement and analytic tools required throughout the cycle. Several such analytic tools and strategies, including statistical and neural network clustering, visual analyses including of dynamical systems, applications of matching and evolutionary dynamics, behavioral economics applications, and adequate preparation for use of rigorous statistical methods consistent with our science will be emphasized and integrated throughout.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.