Association for Behavior Analysis International

Compassion is generally defined as a desire and willingness to alleviate the suffering of others. Though there is no doubt that applied and clinical behavior analysis were founded with such intentions, compassionate behavior has not historically been explicitly analyzed or taught in behavior analytic practice. Though the word “compassion” does not often appear in traditional behavior analytic literature, it is now being employed more regularly in formal contexts and has even found its way into the most recent BACB code of ethics. As scientific practitioners, it is important that behavior analysts establish an agreed upon functional and actionable definition of compassion so that they can effectively plan for, engage in, and train others to engage in, compassionate practices. Behavior analysts have both the technology and the heart to spread compassion far and wide. This panel will discuss the functional conceptual definitions of compassionate behavior so that we can learn to identify it and understand that the topography will vary across individuals, groups, cultures, and contexts. The panel will also address how to plan for and respond with compassion to harmful behaviors. Perhaps most crucially, the panel will discuss compassion’s close relationship with self-compassion, ways to practice self-compassion and strategies aimed at avoiding compassion fatigue.

Beginner

Relational Frame Theory (RFT) is a functional-analytic approach to human language and cognition that allows to addressing several complex behaviours such as humour, time perception, hierarchical categorization response, and causality responding. This symposium is composed of empirical studies concerning the conditions under which these four human behaviours might take place. The first paper aims to establish arbitrary applicable hierarchical responding in adult human. The second paper aims to establish arbitrarily applicable causal and temporal responses in adult humans. The third paper aims to isolate part of the processes that might hinder for the emergence of humor. Finally, the fourth paper aim to analyze the impact of motivational functions (pleasant, unpleasant and as well as higher-order or overarching functions) that might be involved in the passage of time through different time perception measures The four papers will be discussed according to what contextual conditions should be involved in deriving behaviour according to the four behaviors.

Hierarchical categorization is a response in which a class of stimuli is treated as a member of a wide class of stimuli (e.g., human is classified as a member of the category “animal”, while “animal” is classified as a type of “living being”). According to RFT, hierarchical categorization is a type of arbitrarily applicable relational responding, and this response is involved in complex behaviours such as the self. The main purpose of this study is to establish hierarchical responding in adult humans as relational operants with specific transformation of functions (TOF). In the Phase 1 of the experiment, 10 participants were trained to establish four stimuli as relational cues: Same, Difference, Same-Inclusion and Difference-Inclusion. In Phase 2, four networks were trained using these cues, two hierarchical ones (Same and Difference inclusion cues) and two non-hierarchical ones (Same and Difference cues). In phase 3, different functions were assigned to stimuli in the four networks. Finally, all stimuli of the two hierarchies were tested for derived relations and TOF and most of the participants responded correctly at the first attempt.

The field of Relational Frame Theory (RFT) has not been focused on temporal and causal framing despite its relevance for understanding how human beings make predictions and explain their own behaviour. The current study aims to establish arbitrarily applicable causal and temporal responses in adult humans. For that, in the Phase 1 of the experiment, 10 participants were trained to establish four stimuli as relational cues: Before, After, Casual and Effect. In Phase 2, two networks were trained using these cues, one temporal network (Same and Difference inclusion cues) and one casual network (Casual and Effect cues). In phase 3, aversive and appetitive functions were assigned to stimuli in both networks and the transformation of functions were tested. The results show that most of the participants exhibited a relational responding pattern consistent with their relational training. This study represents a functional analysis of temporal and causal responding, adding evidence to understanding complex human behavior.

Humor is a complex behavior, and there is no consensus regarding under which conditions it emerges. The present study aims to isolate part of the processes that might hinder the emergence of humor, mostly focused on derived relational behavior according to RFT. Four protocols have been promoted: One condition was a mix of perspective-taking and discomfort functions applied to some of the characters in the typical joke. The second condition manipulated only the perspective-taking. A third condition involved applying only the discomfort function. Finally, a fourth condition involved the manipulation of the joke through a desliteralization protocol. Moreover, two control conditions were implemented without any manipulation in the jokes. Fifty-eight participants were distributed among five conditions (9 or 10 participants in each condition). In all conditions, the jokes were presented successively in the same order differing in the type of manipulation implemented. Results show the mix and the desliteralization protocols, resulting in the higher reduction of humor responses. These findings are discussed according to the contextual components defining each experimental protocol and highlight the functions that might be derived according to the interaction between the manipulation and the participants’ histories of relating events.

The current pandemic has created many roadblocks for practitioners and researchers in all areas of behavior analysis. Many of us have been forced to delay or transition our work to the virtual environment. However, this transition to online has also provided opportunities to evaluate how we conduct research and service delivery via virtual platforms. The current symposium includes a diverse sample of how interventions in Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) can be adapted and evaluated in the online environment. The four presentations will highlight research in rule-governed behavior, positive and corrective feedback, behavioral skills training (BST), and text message prompting. These studies were conducted in a variety of online settings, from virtual workplace analogues to online educational/training programs for college students. Overall, these studies represent how the field of OBM can successfully capitalize on current circumstances to advance our research. Many organizations will maintain at least a partial, virtual workforce going forward and it is critical that the field of OBM adapt our research and application to address this shift in the business environment.

Background and/or education in ABA, familiar with single-subject research methodology, understanding of rule-governed behavior

Feedback is one of the most utilized interventions in the Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) literature and is effective in producing increases in performance across a variety of organizational settings. The research on feedback is often interested in the delivery of the feedback (e.g., accuracy, timing, and sequence) with fewer studies investigating preference for different types of feedback. Typically, preference for different types of feedback is measured using indirect methods and relatively few studies have provided participants a direct choice between positive and corrective feedback. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the effects of and preference for positive and corrective feedback during the acquisition of novel tasks using an online format. In the first phase, participants (n =10; 8 female, 2 male) received either positive, corrective, or no feedback (control) across three novel tasks. Participants only mastered the task in which corrective feedback was provided. In the second phase, participants chose to receive either positive or corrective feedback after completing trials of the previous phase’s control task. All participants chose to receive corrective feedback more frequently than positive feedback. Overall, corrective feedback was more effective and more preferred compared to positive feedback.

Behavioral Skills Training (BST) is an effective training process and has been used to teach a variety of skills, including interview skills. Multiple studies have also demonstrated that BST can be used in a web-based context, but no studies to our knowledge have extended the literature by using BST to teach Interview Skills online. Our study extends and replicates previous research by improving the interview skills of college students in a fully synchronous web-based video format, including a stricter mastery criterion, a stricter vocal criterion for certain responding measures, and additional environmental variables that may be relevant in a web-based format. We used a multiple baseline design across targets with follow up sessions testing for maintenance and generalization. All participant?performance improved from baseline?to post-training across all targeted dependent variables providing additional?evidence?that BST is an effective training?process?to?teach?interview skills to college?students,?and can extend to?a novel web-based?format. Implications, limitations and future directions will be discussed.

In response to the COVID-19 crisis, organizations across the world were forced to shift from operating entirely in-person to entirely or partially remotely. Many organizations are now working to understand the ways in which they can support or facilitate meaningful behavior change from a distance. Inclusive postsecondary education programs (IPSEs), which offer specialized support to college students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or Intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD), also had to adapt their service models to fit the demands of remote support. This study examined the effects of text message prompts and text messaging self-monitoring on the timeliness of submission of assignments of three college students receiving remote services from an IPSE at a large midwestern university. Two of three participants exhibited meaningful increases in timely assignment submission

As every behavior analyst in well aware, we as individuals exist in a world where our interaction with the environment shape who we are and how we behave. Professionals utilizing principles of behavior analysis exist in a wide array of fields outside of the traditional areas typically found at Behavior Analysis conferences, and typically call themselves something other than Behavior Analysts. The field of Cyber is one of those fields for which a large component revolves around analyzing human behavior with the goal of behavior change and education. This symposium is set out to lay the groundwork of educating attendees on what the Cyber world is, how we operate, and some areas for which Behavior Analysis is 100% in action. Furthermore, presenters will specifically discuss the use of manipulation for information gathering (Social Engineering), exploiting vulnerabilities in networks, web apps, and user security (Pentesting), and information gathering within digital media (Open Source Intelligence).

Target audience for this presentation are individuals who are curious about the application of behavior analysis in the cyber field. No prerequisite knowledge required.

The field of Cyber or Cybersecurity began in 1972, long before the age of personal computers and smart phones. Since then, the field has grown significantly due to the increase in users, platforms, software, and hardware. More importantly, organizations heavily rely on digital resources and security in order to perform duties ranging from Human Resources to service delivery. To test the reliably of an internal network or security protocols, organizations hire outside companies to conduct a Penetration Test (Pentest) in order to assess the company systems with the goal of helping the hiring organization to fix internal issues. How the process of Pentesting works is highly dependent on tools, we as Behavior Analysts, utilize on a daily basis in our respective jobs. The goal of this presentation is to review the field of Cyber, and to build a parallel between Behavior Analysis and Cyber. Within the presentation, the presenter will also discuss ways to gather and use Intelligence gathered in digital media in order to assist Pentesters.

The concept of multiple control plays a central role in Skinner’s (1957) Verbal Behavior. It is a powerful concept that can be used to account for complex linguistic and cognitive phenomena, such as novel utterances (as in the famous “no black scorpion” example), humor, problem-solving, and recall. This symposium reports the results of two laboratory studies on convergent multiple control, and a study on improving recall of past events for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Juliana Oliveira presents a demonstration of convergent multiple control following the establishment of divergent multiple control over tacting in a laboratory task with college students. Adrienne Jennings presents another study with college students that examined prerequisites for convergent multiple control over intraverbal responses. Finally, Stephanie Keesey-Phelan presents a study on the effects of reinforcing verbal behavior during an activity or event on later recall of the activity or event.

BCBAs, graduate students, researchers. Need to have basic familiarity with Skinner's analysis of verbal behavior.

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit deficits in social communication and conversation skills, including recalling past events. We evaluated the impact of reinforcing verbal behavior during a session on the recall of events from that session. In Experiment 1, in a multielement design, 5 participants with ASD viewed PowerPoint slides with black and white stick figures engaging in actions. While viewing the pictures, the three conditions were: (1) no requirements (i.e., looking quietly), (2) reinforcement of tacting each picture, and (3) reinforcement of repeating auditorily presented letters and numbers (i.e., a blocking procedure). When asked to recall the pictures 10 min later, 4 out of 5 participants emitted the most statements in the tacting condition; 2 of the participants needed added reinforcement of tacts for this outcome. In Experiment 2, in a multiple probe design across participants, tacts and intraverbals were reinforced with 3 participants with ASD during 5-min activities (e.g., board game). When asked to recall events from the activity 50 min later, 2 out of 3 participants emitted more statements compared to baseline. For the third participant, we identified reinforcement conditions affecting responding. These results suggest that reinforcing verbal behavior during an activity may facilitate recall.

The evolutionary theory of behavior dynamics (ETBD) is a computational model of operant behavior based on the Darwinian evolutionary processes of selection, reproduction, and mutation. There is an extensive body of empirical research demonstrating the ability of the ETBD model to animate artificial organisms that emit behavior that closely mirrors steady-state choice data produced by live organisms. Recently, ETBD has been extended to the analysis of clinically relevant behavior across a number of unique assessment and treatment applications. Ultimately, the application of ETBD to the study of aberrant behavior may yield insights into identifying potential behavioral treatments that are effective. In this symposium, four presenters will discuss emerging applications of ETBD to the study of problem behavior. The first presentation will provide an overview of the concepts and principles of ETBD. The second presentation will discuss the use of ETBD to model the functional assessment and treatment of automatically maintained self-injurious behavior. The third presentation will discuss the use of ETBD to model evidence-based behavioral assessment and treatment procedures for severe problem behavior. The final presentation will discuss the use of ETBD to model behavioral treatment durability and resurgence during schedule thinning

Morris and McDowell (2021) used the evolutionary theory of behavior dynamics (ETBD) to model the subtypes of automatically reinforced self-injurious behavior (ASIB) and identified two models for which behavior generated by the ETBD matched the functional analysis and treatment outcomes characteristic of Subtypes 1 and 2. In the current study, we conducted more stringent evaluation of these models within the framework of precision medicine and aimed to replicate the results of Hagopian et al., (2018). The models’ response to treatment were well predicted by the level of differentiation in the functional analysis, as in Hagopian et al. However, other characteristics of the data (e.g., the exact predictive behavioral marker) suggested that better models for the subtypes of ASIB could still be identified. Thus, we evaluated adjustments to model sensitivity and reinforcer magnitude and their effect on correspondence with human data to identify superior models of Subtypes 1 and 2. The superior models were then utilized to replicate the analyses of Morris and McDowell and to evaluate other candidate predictive behavioral markers. The implications for assessment and treatment of ASIB, research on mechanisms underlying subtype differences, and research on the application of the ETBD are discussed.

Although the evolutionary theory of behavior dynamics (ETBD) is not designed to model the behavior of any particular individual, it can model how organisms will generally behave as function of contingencies operating in the environment. By manipulating certain parameters such as those that affect sensitivity to reinforcement and response variability, it is possible to model specific functional classes of problem behavior – and how they are impacted by treatment. Morris and McDowell (2021) used ETBD to successfully model different subtypes of automatically maintained self-injurious behavior and their differential response to behavioral treatment. The purpose of the present study is to illustrate how ETBD can also be used to model: a) socially-maintained problem behavior, and b) the effects of commonly used clinical procedures. Parameters and schedule arrangements were manipulated to model functional analysis outcomes, effects of response blocking, outcomes of competing stimulus assessments, and effects of treatments involving differential reinforcement and noncontingent reinforcement. Beyond merely modeling functional classes of problem behavior and treatment effects, this approach has potential to support and guide research aimed at understanding problem behavior and elucidating the mechanisms by which treatments bring about behavior change.

In his book Verbal Behavior, Skinner (1957) presented a behavior-analytic view of language and cognition in humans. As such, he set the stage for an area of research focused on the explanation and the empirical evaluation of the conditions under which verbal behavior is emitted (Oah & Dickisnon, 1989). In 1991, Sundberg published the article 301 Research Topics from Skinner’s Book Verbal Behavior, calling for the experimental analysis of behavior processes involved in verbal behavior and suggesting a gap in the literature. The years that followed were marked by an increase in verbal behavior research across different topics and populations (De Souza et al., 2017; Sautter & LeBlanc, 2006). Despite the increasing number of verbal behavior studies, many topics are yet to be explored and several others need further investigation. In this panel, members of the ABAI Verbal Behavior Special Interest Group (VB-SIG) will highlight advancements in the empirical literature and provide directions for future research towards the understanding of verbal behavior processes from a conceptual and applied perspective.

Behavior Analysts, Speech-Language Pathologists, Psychologists, students in behavior analysis, service providers.

Recent publications have yielded concerns of gender- and race-based pay gaps and potential pay inequities within the field of applied behavior analysis (ABA; Li et al., 2019; Vance & Saini, under review). Equipped with a unique understanding of behavior-change processes, behavioral practitioners are well-suited to challenge organizational practices that may be contributing to pay inequities. A progressive response may involve identifying interventions that help to diagnose pay equity issues, mitigate their impacts, and prevent escalation of inequities. Therefore, the purpose of the symposium is to conceptualize the topic of pay-equity as well as introduce and discuss micro and macro-level interventions. The status of such interventions within ABA will be reviewed in addition to future action items on this topic. Collectively, the authors of this symposium hope to empower its audience members, generate discussion about pay practices within the field and set the occasion for enhanced equity processes in ABA.

RBT, BCaBA, BCBA, BCBA-D

With modern computers, there is an ever-increasing promise for the ability to conduct complex data analyses that are designed for behavior analysts and the types of data we collect. However, many of these useful techniques remain out of the grasp of the average behavior analyst because the techniques do not exist as a functional tools and are just promises. A wholly different behavioral repertoire related to data analysis and computer programming is necessary to translate the promises into functional tools. The goal of this symposium is to highlight the growing effort within behavior analysis to develop useful data analytic tools and applications for ourselves. Topics will cover efforts to analyze behavioral data in relation to environmental variables outside of the behavior analyst’s control (e.g., client medications), neural network computing to analyze multiple baseline data, methods to develop decision support systems for functional analysis, and development of a system for charting of single-subject design data that can be easily extended to support advanced statistical analysis.

Attendees should be aware of pharmacotherapy and should have knowledge of multiple baselines and functional analyses.

Researchers report increasing trends in psychotropic medication use to treat problem behavior in individuals with intellectual and developmental disability, despite some controversy regarding its application and treatment efficacy. While a substantial evidence-base exists supporting behavioral intervention efficacy, research evaluating separate and combined interventions (i.e., concurrent application of behavioral and psychopharmacological interventions) effects is scarce. This talk demonstrates a series of analysis using the clinical treatment data of four adolescent males who engaged in severe problem behavior to retrospectively explore separate and combined intervention effects. First, we calculated individual effect sizes and corresponding confidence intervals. The results indicated larger problem behavior decreases may have coincided more often with behavioral intervention adjustments compared to medication adjustments. Second, a conditional rates analysis indicated surges in problem behavior may not have reliably coincided with medication reductions. Spearman correlation analyses indicated a negative relationship between behavioral intervention phase progress and weekly episodes of problem behavior compared to a positive relationship between total medication dosage and weekly episodes of problem behavior. However, a non-parametric partial correlation analyses indicated individualized, complex relationships may exist between total medication dosage, behavioral intervention and weekly episodes of problem behavior. Although our conclusions are tentative, we will discuss many potential clinical implications, as well as rationale for behavioral researchers and practitioners to consider applying creative analytic strategies to evaluate separate and combined interventions effects on problem behavior to further explore this extremely understudied topic.

Applied work in Behavior Analysis is moving towards regularly integrating quantitative metrics in the design, delivery, and evaluation of behavioral interventions. Efforts in this area are constrained by the tools available to practitioners. Whereas commercially available spreadsheet software supports robust charting capabilities, only the most basic types of computations are supported. Furthermore, this approach cannot be fully automated and places significant demands on the analyst. The approach presented here leverages the capabilities of the free, open-source R program to support both quantitative as well as the existing charting conventions (e.g., style, formatting) expected of commercially available spreadsheet software. The combination of which is a toolset that supports both visual analysis and the integration of robust statistical methods (e.g., multi-level modeling). This paper ends with a discussion on the importance of statistical consultation and training and exploration of free and open-source alternatives to commercial software packages.

Medical education has addressed implicit biases associated with burnout, cooperation and equitable patient care in classroom settings, but there is evidence that in some cases, simply teaching about cultural differences may only reinforce some negative stereotypes. Based on the alarming epidemic pertaining to burnout in medical education and practice, and high frequency of medical errors that are products of team dynamic, medical schools are developing curricular elements that increase resiliency, self-compassion, and empathy towards diverse patients to combat these effects. Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) has received the attention of medical educators and professionals as an effective approach for management of burnout and implicit biases inhibiting cooperation and patient care. Research has demonstrated ACT has positive outcomes in a wide variety of settings with a wide variety of populations including: mental health and innovation, stigma, stress, burnout, sick leave, physical and psychological well-being, absenteeism, college performance, and worksite distress. This symposium will provide an overview of applied research pertaining to implicit behavioral assessment and ACT with the focus on medical education.

Audience members should have a basic understanding of behavioral systems analysis and implicit behavioral assessment.

The practice of medicine is inherently stressful and social. To be truly effective as a healthcare provider, one must not only know how to healthfully manage the psychological stressors of the current U.S. healthcare system - which has been noted as being a breeding ground for burnout - but one must also be able to continuously and humbly adapt to the ever evolving cultural climate the healthcare system is a part. Ideally, in a way that ensures each patient is treated with dignity, respect, and equity. In order to ensure healthcare providers are equipped with the repertoires required to sustain healthy and culturally humble repertoires in medicine, medical educators should continuously and systematically examine the impact their curricula have on healthcare student performance. In 2016, our research group began to systematically introduce a series of Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) sessions as a mandatory component of students’ medical curriculum. The current study explored one wing of this research, by exploring the relationship between measures of implicit bias, psychological flexibility, and clinical engagement during a standardized patient encounter with third-year medical students. Preliminary results and implications for future research will be discussed.

As part of our longstanding interdisciplinary collaboration with the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine (UNR Med), we have focused on longitudinal measurement in a variety of domains of implicit biases identified as important by medical school administrators. Implicit bias has been a means of assessing change over time in domains related to student wellness and diversity issues. Additionally, we introduced an Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) curriculum to promote student well-being, psychological flexibility, and resilience to well-known stressors of medical training. This presentation examines a particular slice of the overarching interdisciplinary work with a focus on longitudinal implicit measures of burnout and cooperation, which is viewed as a crucial component in naturalistic medical settings (e.g., a doctor’s willingness and ability to delegate to and depend on other members of the healthcare team). These longitudinal assessments are considered in the context of corresponding assessments of psychological flexibility (i.e., Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II [AAQ-II]) before and after implementations of ACT, stratified by students identified as “at-risk” by the AAQ-II and a comparison of healthy controls, in order to understand the complex relationships among these variables and the impact of the ACT curriculum over time

Cultural humility was originally introduced by healthcare providers as an alternative to cultural competence. While cultural competence was conceptualized as an outcome, cultural humility was considered a lifelong ongoing process. Cultural humility refers to a psychological posture in which self-reflection, self-critique, taking the role of a life-long learner, identifying, and intervening on power imbalances, and non-paternalistic partnerships with clients are embraced. Medical practitioners work with patients from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds and work in highly stressful environments. It is important practitioners have the tools to best treat their patients, mitigate their own biases, and acquire the skills to establish a healthy rapport with patients from different backgrounds. As such, an online Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) based cultural humility training module was developed for medical students enrolled in a medical Spanish elective in order to aid in the establishment of such a repertoire. A recently developed Cultural Humility Multidimensional Scale was identified as the primary dependent variable to assess participants’ cultural humility repertoires before, after and several weeks following the training. The preliminary data including the aggregated pre and post scores of the Cultural Humility Multidimensional Scale demonstrate the positive impact of ACT on participants’ target skills.

Behavior analytic literature has highlighted the importance of social validity as a source of consumer feedback pertaining to the goals, procedures, and effects of behavioral interventions. This study examined the utility of social validity in the development of an Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) curriculum in medical education. While ACT has been shown to be efficacious in higher education settings, there is still a need to ensure those receiving ACT find it socially valid. Medical students are a unique population given their heightened and chronic levels of stress. Therefore, medical students’ buy-in and engagement with ACT is critical to its experiential impact as related to their stress management, psychological flexibility, and patient care skills over time. Given the complexity of the medical training systems and stressful nature of medical students’ experiences throughout their education, their feedback pertaining to the quality, duration, and timing of ACT is critical to its success as a training program. This study’s primary goal was to determine the social validity of an ongoing ACT-based wellness curriculum for first year medical students at a Western U.S. medical school and will provide insight on the aspects of the ACT curriculum students perceived as most beneficial.

The ABAI Executive Council has appointed a task force to study the use of contingent electric skin shock in the treatment of problem behavior. The members of the task force will summarize their work to date and welcome the viewpoints of invited guests as well as members of the audience.

Sciences thrive when they receive contributions from a wide variety of perspectives and research groups. Therefore, it is critical that the field of behavior analysis supports all early-career behavior analysts who are interested in conducting and publishing behavior analytic research. However, researchers working outside of traditional research programs may experience obstacles and difficulties in establishing and maintaining research agendas. This panel discussion will help prepare potential researchers by focusing on the challenges faced by researchers working at small universities. The panelists will consist of three tenure-track faculty of different small universities who have a history of successfully traversing the nuances of research in small universities. Each panelist will talk about the obstacles they faced when beginning their research and provide advice for those aspiring to conduct research in similar settings. Time will be given to allow for questions and discussion with the audience.

Early-career behavior analysts

According to the International Literacy Association (2021), “Children have the basic human right to read.” Implementation of effective and efficient reading intervention is necessary to ensure all learners become competent readers better able to participate in society (UNESCO, 2021). Research identifying effective and efficient reading interventions has been translated into reading curricula, which have been adopted and implemented across various educational settings. The first presentation in this symposium will provide an example of how to improve reading using a behavior-based teaching strategy: TAGteach. The second presentation will review the evidence supporting various methods of reading instruction and discuss one approach that integrates Direct Instruction (DI) and Precision Teaching (PT) with Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) to optimize reading gains: Celeration Education. The third presentation will use illustrative case examples to demonstrate how to teach reading using Celeration Education. Individualized instruction will be emphasized across learning profiles as a necessary component for maximizing fluent decoding and reading comprehension.

Behavior Analysts

Reading is an important skill that behavior analysts are well equipped to teach. TAGteachTM offers a promising systematic technology for behavior analysts and non-behavior analytic teachers to improve oral reading performance. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of TAGteach as an intervention to decrease reading errors and increase oral reading fluency with nonsense text. Baseline performance on a passage of nonsense text was established and target utterances were determined for intervention. TAGteach was introduced to teach participants the correct pronunciation of nonsense words. Generalization and maintenance of performance were also assessed. The number of errors was high and fluency (i.e., speed of correctly reading the passage) was low during baseline but both improved following the TAGteach intervention. These results suggest TAGteach effectively promotes reading acquisition and improving fluency, although its use should be examined in educational settings and with existing languages.

This panel, presented as part of the ABAI Professional Development Series, explores novel applications of behavior analysis and multidisciplinary approaches to data science. Data science is a field that relies on scientific methods to understand and analyze information using data. Behavior analysts can leverage data science tools and techniques to strengthen analyses, more accurately describe and predict behavior, measure intervention effects, manage large data sets, and improve decision making. Data science has immediate and direct implications for practitioners and researchers conducting applied, translational, and experimental analyses. For those who have not received formal training, these topics can be intimidating. The goal of this panel is to increase accessibility by providing the audience with basic information about what data science is as well as an opportunity to ask questions to seasoned scientists. Behavior analysts, students, practitioners, and researchers interested in learning more about coding, machine learning, and/or managing large data sets are invited to come to this informational question and answer session!