Scholarly publications
Includes peer reviewed journals within and adjacent to behavior analysis
(Starred journals available to BCBAs through the BACB portal)
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis *
6/24 Beaulieu, L., Kwak, D., Jimenez-Gomez, C., & Morgan, G. (2024). Implementing culturally responsive and trauma-informed practices with checklists and goal setting. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.1095
2 participants used checklists and goal-setting to increase their use of culturally responsive and trauma-informed practices. The checklist is available here
Behavior Analysis in Practice
6/25 Li, A., Curiel, H. & Mateus, C.C.S. Participation of Latina Women as Authors in Behavior Analytic Research. Behav Analysis Practice (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-024-00951-z
Based on institutional affiliation and a "surname analysis," the authors conclude that Latina representation in behavior analytic journals has increased, particularly in JABA and BAP
De Souza, A.A., de Souza, S.R., Murari, S.C. et al. The Pioneering Role of Women from Universidade Estadual de Londrina in the Dissemination of Behavior Analysis in Brazil. Behav Analysis Practice (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-024-00947-9
Brazil has an interesting and long history of behavior analysis, and psychology programs in Brazil are historically dominated by women
Plattner, C., Anderson, C. Creating a Therapeutic Alliance with Caregivers: An Introduction to Motivational Interviewing. Behav Analysis Practice (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-024-00948-8
The authors provide an overview of MI and argue that it is relevant to behavior analysis. I very much agree and you should read this
Thakore, A., Kelly, A., Petursdottir, A.I. et al. Evaluation of a Treatment Package for Chronic, Stereotypic Hand Mouthing of a Child Diagnosed with Autism. Behav Analysis Practice (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-024-00956-8
A 7 year old who engaged in chronic and damaging hand mouthing had a history of ineffective treatment. The authors used RIRD plus contingent protective equipment, which eliminated the behavior even after withdrawal of the treatment
6/28 Russell, C.E., Harper, J., Weiss, M.J. et al. Practice Makes Progress: Evaluating Ethics Instruction Using Competency-Based Assessments. Behav Analysis Practice (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-024-00949-7
In study 1, students received feedback and BST for identifying ethical concerns and proceeding through an 11-step decision-making model, but it did not result in meaningful change. In study 2, they changed the materials and repeated the experiment, and the 2 students met mastery criteria
Behavioral Interventions *
6/26 Clayborne, J., Cengher, M., Frampton, R., & Shawler, L. (2024). Stimulus equivalence and transfer of function: Teaching categorization skills to children. Behavioral Interventions, e2037. https://doi.org/10.1002/bin.2037
Equivalence-based instruction was used with 3 preschoolers with ASD to teach relations between categories as well as functions
Behavior and Social Issues
6/26 Lee, B., Paliliunas, D. Exploring the Relationship between Social Support, Academic Performance, and Measures of Well-Being of LGBTQIA2S+ College Students at a Midwestern University. Behav. Soc. Iss. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42822-024-00176-3
LGBTQ+ students in one university had lower scores in many ACT-related measures, plus less reported social support and lower GPAs. The authors recommend steps to increase support
The Analysis of Verbal Behavior
6/27 Keesey-Phelan, S., Axe, J.B. & Chase, P.N. The Effects of Reinforcing Tacting on the Recall of Children with Autism. Analysis Verbal Behav (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40616-024-00207-5
In a recall procedure, 4/5 children recalled more pictures when prompted to tact them and given reinforcement (as opposed to looking at the pictures quietly or a blocking procedure of repeating letters and numbers)
The Psychological Record
6/25 Ryan, M., King, H., Chesbrough, E. et al. Increasing Toy Engagement via Response Disequilibrium Theory: A Systematic Replication. Psychol Rec (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-024-00601-4
Response disequilibrium theory could be behind the Premack principle: a deficit in one activity could make contingent access reinforcing for another activity. In this replication, the authors find that amount of deprivation predicts strength of response, lending support for this theory
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
6/25 Agebjörn, J., Gillberg, C., Eberhard, J. et al. Association Between Autism and PTSD Among Adult Psychiatric Outpatients. J Autism Dev Disord (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-024-06439-7
An amateurish paper exists in which the author suggests that ABA results in increased rates of PTSD, while neglecting to consider that perhaps it occurs more frequently in the autistic population in the first place. Here is a paper that suggests that PTSD occurs more frequently in the autistic population
Journal of Behavioral Education
6/28 Pan, Q., Bak, M.Y.S., DeLiema, D. et al. Using Interaction and Quantitative Analysis to Examine the Effects of Video Modeling on Play of a Preschooler with Autism. J Behav Educ (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10864-024-09550-y
The authors argue that teaching discrete play skills to kids with ASD is not...fun (in the sense that play is supposed to be fun). Instead, they used video modeling, which didn't work in isolation, and later added in vivo modeling; they also used qualitative measures to try and capture what skills improved
Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science
6/25 Increasing workforce psychological flexibility through organization-wide training: Influence on stress resilience, job burnout, and performance
(In press) A few hundred people in a manufacturing company completed an ACT training and experienced small increases in psychological flexibility measures, which are associated with lower levels of burnout and higher levels of performance
6/28 Further Evidence in Support of Psychological Flexibility as a Model of Eudaimonic Activity
(In press) Psychological flexibility and wellbeing are related to a measure of need satisfaction, which implies a eudaimonic function -- this means that "finding purpose" has a big impact on whether being more psychologically flexible leads to greater wellbeing
From Mistakes to Mastery: An Idiographic Microanalytical Study Comparing Processes Related to Effective and Ineffective Outcomes in Behavioral Interventions
(Open access) (In press) In examining transcripts of therapy sessions, more effective therapists: 1) have a systematic approach, not an eclectic one; 2) asking leading questions, rather than giving directive responses; 3) less aversive vocalizations (corrections, etc.); 4) reinforcing vocalizations for target behavior. This is all very reminiscent of Motivational Interviewing
6/29 The Relationship Between Psychosis and Psychological Flexibility and Other Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Processes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
(In press) Psychological inflexibility and cognitive fusion are related to more severe paranoia
Book publications
Textbooks, handbooks, manuals, or mass-market
Sloan publishing
Ethics: Proactive and Practical Decision Making for Behavior Analysts, LeBlanc & Karsten
Perspectives on Neurodiversity and Belonging: Reflections for Behavior Analysts, Dyer, Weiss, Tereshko, & Linnehan (eds.)
2023: A list here
Podcasts
ABA Inside Track
Episode 280 - Neurodiversity, pt. 2 - The Neurodiversity Panel w/ Alex Astrella, Michelle LaFrance, + Brian Middleton
Behavioral Observations
Leadership in Alternative Education Settings: Session 267 with Bruce Tinor
Blogs
Generally these are produced by professionals
ABAI
Re-Homing Our Furry Lab Mates (#1 of 2): What’s Old is New Again!
Can you adopt a lab rat? Click the link on a VR3 schedule to find out
Instruments and their History to Teach Behavior Analysis
As mentioned in the article, you should check out the Aubrey Daniels virtual museum
Licensing & professional organizations
ASAN
Action Alert: Call-In Days To #StopTheShock
ASAT
June newsletter
Business world
Autism services, behavioral health, etc.
Feeding Disorder Treatment Programs Urgently Needed for Children with Autism
While this is surely true, part of the reason for the need is that pediatric feeding disorders require specialized training, while healthcare CEOs want to replace RNs with CNAs. Looking forward to the future where private equity turns a decommissioned Arby’s into a feeding clinic.
Accidentally behavior analysis
A mainstream news article that relates to behavior analysis
Rethinking Autism Interventions: More Isn’t Always Better, Behavioral Health Business
This article is a summary of this paper, which I believe is framed to get maximum attention (and perhaps it's working) despite being somewhat mendacious. One can logically deduce that in coaching, teaching, tutoring, or similar fields, there is essentially a curve predicting average outcome per unit of intervention (though perhaps not a standard distribution “bell curve”); for example, everyone can agree that 3 minutes per week of elite Olympic coaching is worthless, and also that 84 hours per week (12 hours per day, 7 days per week) is probably more than necessary to achieve best outcomes (Ericcson found that 6-8 hours per day is the maximum amount of deliberate practice and any more is essentially impossible). In fact, that's essentially the gist of the paper: too much is too much, and we don't know for certain how much is the right dosage. But too little is also too little -- then again, they ultimately admit this in the discussion portion; the "low" amounts of hours in studies examined were typically 10 per week. Ultimately the authors suggest that blanket recommendations for excessive hours are inappropriate, which is a bit of a strawman -- it is accepted practice to individualize recommendations (even if some people are not doing so appropriately). For a sane take on this paper, the embedded podcast (this is a thing JAMA Pediatrics does now?) interviews Geraldine Dawson (of ESDM) who makes most of these points.
Continuing education
UPCOMING:
BehaviorLive has a list of events, some of which are free: 7/9, 7/11, 7/17 (ETH), 7/18, 7/31
Flashback
It’s true, we don’t know exactly how many hours it takes to improve performance for an individual pianist. So, in the spirit of science: don’t do too much. Instead, do just enough.