Applied Behavior Analysis at The Chicago School
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is a science-based approach to behavior intervention. This includes not only issues related to the assessment and treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorders, but several other applications, including instructional design and organizational behavior management.
The Chicago School’s Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) programs provide graduates with a solid foundation in the principles of behavior analysis. Graduates are equipped with the skills to bring about socially significant behavior change through data-based decision-making and program development.
Guided by practitioner faculty, students at The Chicago School are challenged to become leaders in the field of applied behavior analysis. With access to the best in modern technologies, graduates gain experience and exposure in a wide variety of ABA applications and specialties, including instructional design, staff and parent training, and verbal behavior.
More information about the ABA programs and concentrations offered by The Chicago School can be found here.
Upcoming Live The Chicago School ABA Webinars
The Chicago School ABA Courses Available for Homestudy
Bidirectional Naming and The Integrative Verbal Behavior Approach
The term bidirectional naming (BiN) has been used to describe the integration of listener and speaker behaviors that leads to speaking with understanding. In other words, it is the basic behavioral unit for the establishment of verbal behavior. In this talk, I will explain the importance of bidirectional naming, as well as how it is established during a typical child’s development. Finally, with examples from the behavior analytic literature, including my own translational research, I will suggest ways by which some of the skills that lead to the development of BiN can be targeted and prioritized during intervention with early learners. The emphasis on teaching developmentally appropriate cumulative-hierarchical skills that allow children to learn from natural contingencies of reinforcement is the hallmark of the integrative approach to verbal behavior.
The Dog and Pony Show: Applications of Behavior Analysis to Domestic Animals
Behavior analysis is a highly adaptable science, helping us understand and improve human behavior as well as nonhuman animal behavior. In this presentation, I will discuss our translational and applied research with dogs and horses. Despite our long-standing relationship with dogs, few studies had investigated dogs’ preferences for different types of human interaction or what stimuli can function as reinforcers. Our research has investigated which human interactions dogs prefer, such as petting, vocal praise, and food delivery. Understanding their preferences, and the conditions which alter those preferences allow us to improve our interactions with them. Because we are interested in creating desirable behavior change in animals, we have also investigated effective reinforcers for dogs and horses, as well as the conditions under which those consequences might or might not function as reinforcers. In both species, we find food is a highly effective reinforcer. This presentation will dive into our studies on these topics, as well as pointing the audience to other useful research that has emerged in this domain. From these translational studies, we will move into applications of this knowledge. Recently, we have investigated the utility and feasibility of having average citizens train their dogs to detect invasive agricultural pests (spotted lanternfly) as a flexible, and ubiquitous detection tool. Spotted lanternflies are an emerging agricultural threat; however, our research and others has demonstrated dogs’ ability to detect their egg masses. Currently, we have citizen science teams training for deployment tests; their overall success points to the usefulness of this approach. On the horse front, we have investigated using remote feeders to change pasture usage in horses, to prevent overgrazing without having to erect physical fences. In sum, in this talk I will highlight the range of issues in the applied animal field for which our science is applicable, focusing on our own translational and applied research with dogs and horses. At the same time, the audience will learn about current issues in the dog and horse behavior world that can be addressed through behavior analysis. Finally, I will wrap up with considerations for ethically entering the applied animal field.
A Behavior Analysts’ Journey into the World of Data Science in Law Enforcement: A Call to Action
Take a journey with Dr. Sarah Casella-Jones as she explores her interaction with Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) and how her focus has changed throughout her career from Behavior-Based Safety (BBS) on an airport tarmac and autism therapists to working with law enforcement to increase their data entry for future law predictive analysis. Here’s a sample of her manuscript:
A limited number of research articles in behavioral sciences have examined the use of data science techniques amongst behavioral science literature, but more specifically with law enforcement and crime analysis. For this review, the author analyzed eight behavior science peer-reviewed journals for the presence and relevance of specific keywords to identify data science usage in law enforcement articles. Overall, the author found an underwhelming amount of data science techniques being used in the field in general and more specifically from a law enforcement lens. Finally, the author intends to discuss these results and suggest a greater attention be paid to increasing the use of data science applications in behavioral science research overall and in law enforcement research.
“Life” by a thousand cuts: Surviving and pushing forward in your professional career
“My initial forays into ABA came in the 70s and while never facing overt hostility in our field, I have been targeted with many micro-aggressions over the many decades. I will elaborate on the topic of micro-aggressions and how historically marginalized groups have been affected by them. Finally, I will conclude with recommendations on how I have addressed both overt and covert hostility in the professional arena and how, after 50 years, I managed to survive in ABA. In this presentation, I will discuss experiences of overt hostility in the field. I will also discuss strategies to address such challenges and how those strategies foster a “culture of giving” in ABA.”
Get all of our ABA continuing education programs in one bundle!
ABA Bundle
ABA Bundle includes:
- A Behavior Analysts’ Journey into the World of Data Science in Law Enforcement: A Call to Action (1.5 BACB CEUs | Free)
- “Life” by a thousand cuts: Surviving and pushing forward in your professional career (2.0 BACB CEUs | Free)
- The Dog and Pony Show: Applications of Behavior Analysis to Domestic Animals (1.5 BACB CEUs | Free)
- Bidirectional Naming and The Integrative Verbal Behavior Approach (2.0 BACB CEUs | Free)
Bundle Price: Free