Association for Behavior Analysis International

The Association for Behavior Analysis International® (ABAI) is a nonprofit membership organization with the mission to contribute to the well-being of society by developing, enhancing, and supporting the growth and vitality of the science of behavior analysis through research, education, and practice.

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46th Annual Convention; Washington DC; 2020

Program by : Sunday, May 24, 2020


 

Panel #256
CE Offered: BACB
Diversity submission Behavioral Barriers to Climate Sustainability: A Challenge to Our Field
Sunday, May 24, 2020
11:00 AM–11:50 AM
Marriott Marquis, Level M4, Liberty M
Area: CSS/PCH; Domain: Translational
CE Instructor: Susan M. Schneider, Ph.D.
Chair: Susan M. Schneider (Root Solutions)
MEGHAN ELIZABETH MARTINEAU (Newton Public Schools)
E. SCOTT GELLER (Virginia Tech)
KATE BINDER MARTINI (Bell's Brewery)
Abstract:

The climate crisis challenges all of us to step up our sustainability efforts as soon as possible: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change urges that global greenhouse gas emissions be cut by nearly 50% by 2030. How can we best accomplish change using behavior-analytic principles? High-profile studies by the American Psychological Association have found that two of the major behavioral barriers to more individual climate action are the motivation challenge of futility, and the transition challenge from old wasteful habits to green ones (e.g., the influential 2009 report from the Task Force on the Interface Between Psychology and Global Climate Change). Both of these are areas where behavior analysis can provide major contributions. How can we build on what we have already accomplished in climate action, and transfer what has worked in our related areas of strength? Each of the panelists is experienced in behavioral sustainability, and will offer a few suggestions. Opening the floor to the audience, we will attempt to put together a plan of action.

Instruction Level: Basic
Target Audience:

All

Learning Objectives: 1. Attendees will be able to describe examples of behavior analytic research on sustainability 2. Attendees will be able to describe how behavior analysis methods can be employed to help motivate sustainable behaviors. 3. Attendees will be able to describe how behavior analysis methods can facilitate the transition from carbon-heavy to green habits.
Keyword(s): climate change, habits, motivation, sustainability
 
 
Invited Paper Session #321
CE Offered: BACB
Diversity submission SUSTAINABILITY: Of Immediate Consequence: A Strategic Plan for Expanding Behavioral Science Research on Climate Change and Multi-Level Community Action
Sunday, May 24, 2020
3:00 PM–3:50 PM
Marriott Marquis, Level M4, Liberty I-L
Domain: Theory
Chair: Criss Wilhite (California State University Fresno )
CE Instructor: Julia Fiebig, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: JULIA FIEBIG (Ball State University; ABA Global Initiatives LLC)
Abstract:

The role of human behavior in climate change is well established—as is the core mission of behavior analysis—to impact behavior of social significance. Despite overwhelming evidence, an exhaustive review of the literature has shown that only a small portion of the published research topically related to climate change included an experimental evaluation of strategies to reduce emissions-producing behavior. Even if, “we reduce GHG emissions...consequences for people and their livelihoods will still be challenging but potentially more manageable…” (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2019 p.1). These findings call for effective, scalable strategies for impacting climate-relevant policy and behavior at all levels of community and organization. The promise of behavior analysis can be realized through unified mobilization of our efforts. This talk will provide overview of a strategic plan for greatly increasing collaborative efforts within and across behavioral science organizations. Actions that ABAI members can take as researchers, practitioners, and citizens will be pinpointed and listeners can identify how they might contribute to these efforts in collaboration with the task force. A subsequent symposium and panels will give additional insight into the efforts of the Climate Change Task Force for a coalition of behavior science organizations.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) describe a proposed strategic plan on increasing behavior science research to reduce carbon emissions; (2) identify behavioral strategies for changing behavior related to climate change; (3) identify strategies for conducting interdisciplinary research and application related to climate change; (4) to identify and commit to an action that they will take to increase the research and application of behavior science to the reduction of carbon emissions.
 
JULIA FIEBIG (Ball State University; ABA Global Initiatives LLC)
Dr. Fiebig has been applying the science of behavior analysis to optimize school, community, and organizational environments and improve individual well-being for two decades. Though initially convinced she would change the world with music, incidentally, it was her music composition studies at the University of Florida that paved the road to behavior analysis. She completed her graduate training in behavior analysis at The Florida State University and her PhD in Organizational Leadership at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, with emphasis on organizational behavior management and relational frame theory applied to climate change communication. Her work has taken her across the US and Europe and is focused on impacting organizational sustainability, leadership development and team performance, and prosocial, consensus-based community practices. She is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Applied Behavior Analysis at Ball State University, co-founder of ABA Global Initiatives Consulting Group, and a director of LPC International. She is a founding member and chair of ABAI’s Behavior Analysis for Sustainable Societies (BASS) SIG and serves on the Coalition for Behavior Science Organization’s Climate Change Task Force.
 
 
Invited Symposium #346
CE Offered: BACB
Diversity submission SUSTAINABILITY: Growing the Behavioral Biome: Putting a Strategic Plan into Action
Sunday, May 24, 2020
4:00 PM–4:50 PM
Marriott Marquis, Level M4, Liberty I-L
Domain: Translational
Chair: Thomas G. Szabo (Florida Institute of Technology)
CE Instructor: Thomas G. Szabo, Ph.D.
Abstract:

The first presentation will give an integrated analysis of behavioral science research on climate change and greenhouse gas emissions. The second presentation will provide an overview of the research programs, organizations providing funding, and community interventions that have been compiled by the Coalition of Behavioral Science Organizations Climate Change Task Force. The third presentation will provide an overview of the resources required to accomplish the goals of the task force and how to expand the efforts.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) identify types of research that have the potential to advance policy action related to climate change; (2) navigate the resources that have been created by the task force; (3) identify effective methods for recruiting and coordinating volunteer participation.
 
Diversity submission Identifying the Need for Expansion of Behavioral Research on Climate Change
(Theory)
ANTHONY BIGLAN (Oregon Research Institute)
Abstract: This paper will present a thorough and integrated analysis of existing behavioral science research on climate change and greenhouse gas emissions. It will begin by contrasting the amount of money being invested in physical science research relevant to climate change with the much smaller amount being invested in behavioral science research, despite the fact that addressing the problem is almost entirely a matter of changing human behavior. This discrepancy in funding that supports behavioral science research translates to a gap in policy solutions based in behavioral science. Additionally, we will provide a review of the extent to which research is identifying effective and scalable strategies for affecting climate-relevant policy and behavior. We will then describe the kind of experimental research that is most likely to result in scalable change. Finally, we will present a strategic plan for greatly increasing funding for large-interdisciplinary programs of experimental analysis of strategies for affecting climate-relevant policy and behavior.
Anthony Biglan, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist at Oregon Research Institute. He is the author of The Nurture Effect: How the Science of Human Behavior Can Improve our Lives and Our World.   Dr. Biglan has been conducting research on the development and prevention of child and adolescent problem behavior for the past 30 years. His work has included studies of the risk and protective factors associated with tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use; high-risk sexual behavior; and antisocial behavior. He has conducted numerous experimental evaluations of interventions to prevent tobacco use both through school-based programs and community-wide interventions. And, he has evaluated interventions to prevent high-risk sexual behavior, antisocial behavior, and reading failure.   In recent years, his work has shifted to more comprehensive interventions that have the potential to prevent the entire range of child and adolescent problems. He and colleagues at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences published a book summarizing the epidemiology, cost, etiology, prevention, and treatment of youth with multiple problems (Biglan et al., 2004). He is a former president of the Society for Prevention Research. He was a member of the Institute of Medicine Committee on Prevention, which released its report in 2009 documenting numerous evidence-based preventive interventions that can prevent multiple problems. As a member of Oregon’s Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission, he is helping to develop a strategic plan for implementing comprehensive evidence-based interventions throughout Oregon.
 
Diversity submission We’re All in This Together: The Road to Research Collaboration, Funding, and Community Interventions
(Theory)
HOLLY SENIUK (Behavior Analyst Certification Board)
Abstract: Since 2018, the Coalition of Behavioral Science Organizations Climate Change Task Force (BSC-CCTF) has been reviewing the behavioral research on climate change, as described in the previous paper. In addition to reviewing the literature the task force is working to create resources that will aid in pushing the needle forward on behavior science research related to greenhouse gas emissions and policy change. Through a network of volunteers, the task force’s committees have assembled an evolving collection of research institutions, funding sources, and examples of community interventions addressing the development of policies and strategies to reduce carbon emissions. The goal of these collections is to establish a database that will help propel the work of the task force forward by identifying potential funding sources, collaborators, and community intervention models that could benefit from experimental evaluation. This paper will provide audience members with a roadmap of the work thus far and an overview of the research programs, foundations/institutions providing funding, and the community level interventions that have been compiled in this process.

Holly Seniuk, Ph.D., BCBA-D, LBA is the Ethics Disciplinary Manager at the Behavior Analyst Certification Board. Dr. Seniuk graduated with her doctorate from the University of Nevada, Reno in 2013 under the mentorship of Dr. Larry Williams and has been a Board Certified Behavior Analyst since 2010. Dr. Seniuk has previously worked as an Assistant Professor at the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton where she developed an undergraduate level behavior analysis program and as the Project Coordinator for the Nevada PBIS Technical Assistance Center, working on the Facility-Wide PBIS Project providing behavioral systems support to residential juvenile corrections and youth mental health facilities as well as youth parole. She has over 13 years of experience working in a variety of clinical settings including early intervention, schools, mental health, and intellectual disabilities. Dr. Seniuk has served on numerous boards and committees including the Nevada Association for Behavior Analysis, Atlantic Provinces Association for Behavior Analysis, Behaviorists for Social Responsibility, and the Coalition of Behavioral Science Organizations Climate Change Task Force.

 
Diversity submission Building a Network: What It Takes to Make It Happen
(Theory)
ANDREW BONNER (University of Florida )
Abstract: One of the greatest challenges in moving forward the work on behavioral science research on climate change and related community interventions and policy involves coordinating efforts in an efficient and systematic way without losing momentum. This presentation will provide an overview of the resources and effort required to accomplish the goals of the task force by sharing the model that has been developed and implemented. This includes recruitment of volunteers to support research endeavors, as well as, committee work related to the development of searchable databases for research institutions, funding agencies, and community interventions that aim to address issues related to greenhouse gas emissions. The BSC-CCTF has made significant progress in the last two years that would not be possible without the collective effort of many. We will share the process for recruiting, training, and retaining volunteers. Finally, next steps for expanding and scaling up this work will be explored

Andrew is a doctoral student in behavior analysis at the University of Florida. He is also a member of the Behavior Sciences Coalition Climate Change Task Force. His primary research interests are in the areas of developing community interventions to reduce greenhouse gas emission. To that end, he evaluates the determinants for pro-environmental behavior at the individual level, develops interventions, and then evaluates their effects always with an eye toward scalability and widespread adoption.

 
 
Invited Panel #365
CE Offered: BACB
Diversity submission SUSTAINABILITY: Coordinating Interdisciplinary Sustainability Research: What We’ve Learned About Community Intervention Research
Sunday, May 24, 2020
5:00 PM–5:50 PM
Marriott Marquis, Level M4, Liberty I-L
Domain: Translational
Chair: Thomas G. Szabo (Florida Institute of Technology)
CE Instructor: Thomas G. Szabo, Ph.D.
Panelists: ANTHONY BIGLAN (Oregon Research Institute), LISA COYNE (Harvard Medical School; Suffolk University; McLean Hospital), JESSICA GHAI (Boston University)
Abstract:

This panel will serve as a follow-up to the previous events on “A Strategic Plan for Expanding Behavioral Science Research on Climate Change”. It is the first of a two panel discussion on coordinating efforts of the behavior science community to increase research and community intervention to reduce carbon emissions. This panel includes experts from the fields of prevention science, clinical psychology, environmental education, and behavior analysis. The panelists will discuss coordinating efforts of individuals with diverse expertise in the development, execution, and data analysis of interdisciplinary sustainability research and make suggestions for immediate and pragmatic actions at the individual, community and societal levels. Audience members will have the opportunity to participate in real-time work to expand and scale up research and application needed in this area. We invite participants to dialogue and identify the opportunities and barriers to doing this work and commit to taking actions to increase the contributions of the behavior analysis community toward mitigating the effects of climate change.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) identify gaps in research related to climate change policy; (2) state strategies to increase research and community intervention related to climate change; (3) identify committed actions that they can take towards reducing carbon emissions.
ANTHONY BIGLAN (Oregon Research Institute)
Anthony Biglan, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist at Oregon Research Institute. He is the author of The Nurture Effect: How the Science of Human Behavior Can Improve our Lives and Our World.   Dr. Biglan has been conducting research on the development and prevention of child and adolescent problem behavior for the past 30 years. His work has included studies of the risk and protective factors associated with tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use; high-risk sexual behavior; and antisocial behavior. He has conducted numerous experimental evaluations of interventions to prevent tobacco use both through school-based programs and community-wide interventions. And, he has evaluated interventions to prevent high-risk sexual behavior, antisocial behavior, and reading failure.   In recent years, his work has shifted to more comprehensive interventions that have the potential to prevent the entire range of child and adolescent problems. He and colleagues at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences published a book summarizing the epidemiology, cost, etiology, prevention, and treatment of youth with multiple problems (Biglan et al., 2004). He is a former president of the Society for Prevention Research. He was a member of the Institute of Medicine Committee on Prevention, which released its report in 2009 documenting numerous evidence-based preventive interventions that can prevent multiple problems. As a member of Oregon’s Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission, he is helping to develop a strategic plan for implementing comprehensive evidence-based interventions throughout Oregon.
LISA COYNE (Harvard Medical School; Suffolk University; McLean Hospital)
Dr. Coyne is the Founder and Senior Clinical Consultant of the McLean OCD Institute for Children and Adolescents at McLean Hospital, and is an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School. She is the Founder and Director of the New England Center for OCD and Anxiety (NECOA), and is on the Faculty of the Behavior Therapy Training Institute (BTTI) of the International OCD Foundation.  She is also a licensed psychologist and a peer-reviewed ACT trainer. She has authored multiple articles and chapters on ACT with children and adolescents, and is a co-author of the books Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: The Clinician’s Guide for Supporting Parents (Elsevier), and The Joy of Parenting (New Harbinger).  Her new books, The ACT Guide to Teen Anxiety and OCD, Guilford Press, and Stuff That’s Loud: A Teen’s Guide to Unspiralling When OCD Gets Noisy (New Harbinger & Little Brown), are expected in 2020.
JESSICA GHAI (Boston University)

Jessica Ghai, M.Ed. BCBA, LABA(MA) is a doctoral candidate at the Boston University: Wheelock College of Education and Human Development (anticipated completion: Spring 2020) and a Volunteer Coordinator for the Behavioral Science Coalition: Climate Change Task Force. In additional to extensive teaching experience and animal-related dissertation research, Jessica’s academic background includes a B.S. in Natural Resources from The Ohio State University: College of Food, Agriculture, and Environment Sciences. Following completion of her doctoral program, she hopes to pursue a career in research. Research interests include: human-animal interactions through a behavior analytic lens, animal well-being and management of maladaptive behaviors in zoological settings, visitation behaviors of patrons at zoological facilities, and the effectiveness of behavior change interventions related to species biodiversity and conservation of natural resources. Jessica also volunteers as a keeper’s aide at a zoological facility and is a member of ABAI’s Applied Animal Behavior SIG. 

 
 
Invited Panel #387
CE Offered: BACB
Diversity submission SUSTAINABILITY: Behavior Analysis and Sustainability: Designing Community Interventions, Collaboration and Outreach, and Obtaining Funding
Sunday, May 24, 2020
6:00 PM–6:50 PM
Marriott Marquis, Level M4, Liberty I-L
Domain: Translational
Chair: Thomas G. Szabo (Florida Institute of Technology)
CE Instructor: Thomas G. Szabo, Ph.D.
Panelists: HOLLY SENIUK (Behavior Analyst Certification Board), JULIA FIEBIG (Ball State University; ABA Global Initiatives LLC), TIFFANY DUBUC (University of Nevada, Reno), ANDREW BONNER (University of Florida)
Abstract:

An extension of the panel on “Coordinating Interdisciplinary Sustainability Research”, this panel is composed of experts in behavior analysis who will share perspectives on coordination and outreach, research institutions and foundations, and collaboration with others to design community-level interventions to curb the effects of greenhouse gases. This panel aims to foster an open dialogue on how the behavioral community can move this work forward through addressing complex questions, sharing new ideas, and collaborative problem-solving. Audience members will have the opportunity to ask questions of the panelists and offer ideas for collaboration and expansion of the work of the task force. We invite participants to lean in to the complex nature of behavioral science work on climate change and explore new relationships and collaborations that build a community of researchers, practitioners, and activists that are committed to the health and long term survival of our planet and the important role that behavior science plays in making that happen.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) identify methods for finding potential collaborators; (2) identify barriers to initiating interdisciplinary collaborations; (3) state strategies for building relationships and collaborations with researchers, practitioners, and activists working in the area of climate change.
HOLLY SENIUK (Behavior Analyst Certification Board)
Holly Seniuk, PhD, BCBA-D is the Ethics Disciplinary Manager at the Behavior Analyst Certification Board. Dr. Seniuk graduated with her doctorate from the University of Nevada, Reno in 2013 under the mentorship of Dr. Larry Williams and has been a Board Certified Behavior Analyst since 2010. She has previously worked as an Assistant Professor at the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton where she developed an undergraduate level behavior analysis program and as the Project Coordinator for the Nevada PBIS Technical Assistance Center, working on the Facility-Wide PBIS Project providing behavioral systems support to residential juvenile corrections and youth mental health facilities as well as youth parole. Dr Seniuk has over 13 years of experience working in a variety of clinical settings including early intervention, schools, mental health, and intellectual disabilities. She has served on numerous boards and committees including the Nevada Association for Behavior Analysis, Atlantic Provinces Association for Behavior Analysis, Behaviorists for Social Responsibility, and the Coalition of Behavioral Science Organizations Climate Change Task Force. Her professional  and research interests include behavioral systems analysis, applications of the matching law to sports, and environmental sustainability.
JULIA FIEBIG (Ball State University; ABA Global Initiatives LLC)
Dr. Fiebig has been applying the science of behavior analysis to optimize school, community, and organizational environments and improve individual well-being for two decades. Though initially convinced she would change the world with music, incidentally, it was her music composition studies at the University of Florida that paved the road to behavior analysis. She completed her graduate training in behavior analysis at The Florida State University and her PhD in Organizational Leadership at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, with emphasis on organizational behavior management and relational frame theory applied to climate change communication. Her work has taken her across the US and Europe and is focused on impacting organizational sustainability, leadership development and team performance, and prosocial, consensus-based community practices. She is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Applied Behavior Analysis at Ball State University, co-founder of ABA Global Initiatives Consulting Group, and a director of LPC International. She is a founding member and chair of ABAI’s Behavior Analysis for Sustainable Societies (BASS) SIG and serves on the Coalition for Behavior Science Organization’s Climate Change Task Force.
TIFFANY DUBUC (University of Nevada, Reno)
Tiffany is a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst, from Ontario, Canada.  She received her Master’s Degree in Applied Behaviour Analysis in 2011 from Northeastern University and in 2015 she began completing doctoral requirements for a PhD in Applied Behaviour Analysis from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology.  Tiffany has extensive clinical experience developing, evaluating, supervising and consulting on educational and behavioural programs for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders.  Her clinical contributions have spanned an excess of five countries, including those within the Middle East, as well and India. Tiffany’s research interests include the conceptual analysis of cultural discrimination and implicit bias, using a relational frame theory account, as well as the use of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) interventions to increase psychological flexibility as it pertains to cultural competency. Tiffany is passionate about the power of behaviour science to create meaningful and sustained change, and is interested in its application to issues of broad-scale social significance (racism, sustainability). In line with her penchant for fascinating contexts, Tiffany presently resides in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as BCBA Fieldwork Supervisor for the University of Nevada, Reno in collaboration with the King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center.
ANDREW BONNER (University of Florida)
Andrew is a doctoral student in behavior analysis at the University of Florida. His primary research interests are in the areas of developing community interventions to reduce greenhouse gas emission. To that end, he evaluates the determinants for pro-environmental behavior, develops interventions, and then evaluates their effects always with an eye toward scalability and widespread adoption.
 
 
Business Meeting #391
Diversity submission Behaviorists for Social Responsibility (BFSR) Business Meeting
Sunday, May 24, 2020
7:00 PM–7:50 PM
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 2, Room 207B
Chair: Sarah M. Richling (Auburn University)
Presenting Authors:
BFSR is the oldest SIG in ABAI. BFSR members engage in theoretical, conceptual, and empirical analyses of significant social issues related sustainability, economic and social justice, violence, health and wellness, political systems, culture, among others. In the business meeting, the BFSR planners will report on our active projects, including (a) the Matrix Project which is oriented toward increasing preparation and opportunities for behavior analysts to engage in work related to major social issues, (b) international outreach, (c) social media presence, (d) education initiatives, and (e) sustainability initiatives. Discussion of opportunities for participation will follow these brief reports.
 

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