Decoding the Science of Behavior

automatically generated from assigned readings and PowerPoint slides, so they do not include everything you need to know, and some views expressed may not reflect those of the authors or the instructor. They are meant to support your learning, not replace careful reading of the primary course materials.

Season 1: RBT Modules for PSY 316

This 13-episode series offers an overview of the foundational concepts, practical applications, and ethical guidelines of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) for aspiring Registered Behavior Technicians (RBTs). The episodes emphasize understanding behavior through observable actions and environmental influences rather than subjective or mentalistic labels.

Across the season, listeners explore the ABC model (Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence), the professional standards of the RBT Ethics Code 2.0, and core ABA methods such as measuring and graphing behavior, conducting preference assessments, interpreting functional behavior assessments, and teaching new skills through strategies such as discrete trial training, shaping, and chaining.

Later episodes address more complex behavioral challenges, including antecedent interventions, motivating operations, extinction, differential reinforcement, punishment, crisis management, objective session notes, and effective communication with caregivers.

This podcast was generated by NotebookLM based on the textbook Principles of Applied Behavior Analysis for Behavior Technicians and Other Practitioners, Fourth Edition (2025), by Wallace and Mayer. The views expressed in the podcast are not meant to represent those of the authors or the instructor for this class. The podcast is also not meant as a replacement for reading and reviewing the course material.

Season 2: PSY 317: ABA Challenging Behavior Series

This podcast series is designed to accompany PSY 317 by introducing major concepts, methods, and intervention strategies that define applied behavior analysis as both a science and a practice. Episodes move from foundational topics such as the dimensions of ABA, measuring behavior, causal inference, small-n experimental designs, schedules of reinforcement, and operant conditioning into the functional logic that underlies assessment and treatment.

Throughout the season, listeners examine how behavior analysts identify patterns in behavior by analyzing antecedents, consequences, motivating variables, and environmental context. The series introduces indirect functional assessments, descriptive assessments, and functional analyses, with attention to what each method can and cannot tell us. It also covers preference and reinforcer assessments, functions of behavior, and the use of assessment results to guide intervention.

Later episodes focus on core behavior-change procedures, including differential reinforcement, noncontingent reinforcement, function-based extinction, and the behavioral logic underlying positive and negative punishment. The series emphasizes how assessment, behavioral principles, and experimental reasoning work together to support ethical and effective decision making in practice.

This podcast was generated by NotebookLM based on assigned PSY 317 course materials. The views expressed in the podcast are not meant to represent those of the authors or the instructor for this class. The podcast is also not meant as a replacement for reading and reviewing the course material.