With all the new year's resolutions flying around, I thought I would start a little tradition for our podcast. Every new year’s episode, we will be covering some type of ABA research related to healthy eating or increasing activity. This year, we are going to cover one of my favorite topics, self-monitoring or management. The actual components of a self-monitoring program differ, but generally speaking, there is some aspect of feedback, goal setting, and self-data tracking. By combining these elements, you can bring together a self-sustaining system to promote behavior change. This article is a meta-analysis of the different procedures being used in this space and reviews the effectiveness. Different holes in the literature are identified and we (selfishly) discuss how we can use what these researchers have learned to help us stick to our own resolutions.

This conversation is with Corrine Jacoby, a BCBA based in Florida. Corrine and I have worked together briefly in the past, but not recently. Throughout this conversation, we covered a variety of topics. We talked about the reality of being a BCaBA and the confusion of the position, the uncomfortable switch to the supervisor role, OBM and staff management, as well as imposter syndrome for newly minted BCBAs. I encourage everyone, but especially newer BCBAs to listen closely to the part about imposter syndrome, because I think that is something that is pervasive in our field, and stems from a lack of community.

I hope you enjoy this slightly longer episode than normal!

To close out the week, we will be covering a new article that was published by Ruppel and colleagues. This article is out of Western New England and seems to be out of Dr. Hanley's lab. This article reports on the Balance program, a preventative behavior analytic curriculum for children with emerging problematic behavior. Loosely based on the Preschool Life Skills Program, Balance focuses more on child and adult interactions and the utilization of synthesized contingencies. These authors reported on the preliminary results of the Balance program and identified areas for future research and modification. Overall, this article was a great demonstration of a potential preventative way of programming and general early intervention skills. 

Citation + DOI

Ruppel, K. W., Hanley, G. P., Landa, R. K., & Rajaraman, D. (2021) An Evaluation of “Balance”: a Home-Based, Parent-Implemented Program Addressing Emerging Problem Behavior. Behavior Analysis in Practice 14(4), 324–341. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-020-00490-3

Wednesday brings us the first of our Behavior Analysis in Practice Articles, one on feeding interventions over telehealth. I chose this article not because of the feeding topic, but rather because of the focus on parent run interventions and telehealth as a service delivery mode. In addition, I must admit that the changing criterion design had me quite interested from the start. These authors take a demand faded approach to behavioral feeding and attempt to increase bites and consumptions without the usage of escape extinction and in a social valid way. They were able to find success, albeit slow success. While this is not a perfect article and research project, I think the information is valuable to any clinician, and expands the conversation around ethical and humane approaches to ABA.

Citation + DOI:

Bloomfield, B. S., Fischer, A. J., Dove, M. Clark, R. R., & Fife, M. (2021). Parent Teleconsultation to Increase Bites Consumed: A Demonstration Across Foods for a Child With ARFID and ASD. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 14(4), 913–926. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-021-00586-4

Welcome to the first of a new series, One Less Lonely Practitioner. This series came to me as I pondered how alone I felt during my first few months as a BCBA. I had supportive coworkers and boss, but something was missing. I felt that I could not admit the struggles that I was experiencing as a BCBA, for fear that nobody else was experiencing them. For example, my first few months, I never took a lunch, simply hurrying from client to parent meeting to client, never sitting down long enough to catch my breath. I kept quiet, but little did I know my other coworkers were feeling the same stress that I was. This series I hope, will prove to lessen that stigma of suffering alone, and let us build upon each other's wisdom and become better analysts as a result!

To kick off this series, I had the privilege of talking to Dr. Clelia Sigaud. She is a special educator, school psychologist, educator in a verified course sequence, and has extensive experience in severe problem behavior. We chat about her experience in the school system, and as a VCS educator. She also helps run the site, www.learningbehavioranalysis.com. She and her colleague run biweekly task list study groups, which can be found on her Facebook page, Learning Behavior Analysis .com | Facebook

One issue with staff training is the low number of trainers available. This staff training method capitalizes on the observational effect to leverage the amount of time the few trainers have.

Read and listen to hear about the application of the augmented competing stimulus assessment to another automatically maintained behavior. 

Listen to hear about the interesting and novel application of EMG technology to behavior analysis!

Hey there behaviorists!

Check out this new episode on the podcast! We talk about how we can use EMG to detect and treat bruxism, as well as working through the difficulties of using and applying new technology to ABA.

Hey there!

Check out how granular these researchers were able to get with the behavioral topography of expulsions! Another behavioral feeding article that can apply to many other different types of ABA.