The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria

What does Supervision, Fire Safety, and Robots have to do with one another? And what does "Skinner as the Bad Boy," mean? Well, fortunately, Dr. Ellie Kazemi, Professor of Psychology at Cal State Northridge, joins me in Session 88 to sort this all out. I met Ellie at the 2018 Hoosier ABA conference, where she instantly became one of my favorite people in the field. In Session 88, Ellie describes how she happened upon Behavior Analysis well after pursuing Psychology as a chosen field, how she's found several novel applications of our science, and how she's developed relationships with scientists and practitioners in other fields (like the folks at NASA!). We take a few listener questions along the way, but one of my favorite parts of this interview is Ellie's unique advice for newly-minted BCBA's. And, to add my own two cents, her advice is applicable to practitioners at all levels of experience! We also spend a little time talking about the book that she wrote along with along with Brian Rice and Peter Adzhyan. It's called Fieldwork and Supervision for Behavior Analysts: A Handbook. If you're looking for more information about Ellie and her research, check out her lab's web page, which also has links to her CV, as well as the articles that she has published. Session 88 is brought to you by: Go Lotus’ mission is to break down the barriers of how we gather, process, and share information for clients. From practice management to data collection, they do it all. It is so simple your entire team can be up and running in less than an hour. If you want to get their data tracking system free for 90 days, go to golotus.com/register. And use the promo code MATT. There are some other discounts available too, so again, head over to golotus.com/register for more info. HRI Colorado. Even though they have the word Colorado in their name, HRI will find you your dream job just about anywhere. And if you’re an agency, they’ll help you find your dream candidate. For more information, go to HRIColorado.com/contact and let their 30 years of recruiting experience work for you.

In Session 87 Dr. Merrill Winston joins me to talk about the use of restraints and seclusion in the context of supporting individuals who exhibit unsafe behaviors. Merrill is the Vice President and Director of Program Development of the Professional Crisis Management Association. If you're not familiar with him, I've included his bio right here: In addition to being a PCMA trainer, Merrill specializes in the analysis and treatment of severe behavior disorders with special populations. His range of treatment experience includes feeding disorders, self-injury, severe aggression, language acquisition, and skill acquisition problems. Merrill is a popular speaker at conferences and conducts presentations on a wide variety of topics in behavior analysis including psychotropic medication usage, mental illness, autism, exceptional student education, assessment and treatment of behavior problems, IEP goal selection and measurement, and a variety of conceptual issues as they relate to conducting behavior analysis in applied settings. Merrill has worked in a variety of settings including private homes, group homes, large institutions, secured facilities, schools and day-treatment programs. He is an experienced expert witness and frequently consults with attorneys, parents and advocates of persons with disabilities. He currently spends at least one day a week as the Behavior Analysis Consultant for Palm Beach County Schools. One thing I’d like to point out is that both Merrill and I have many years’ experience working with individuals with significant and sometimes dangerous behavioral challenges. As such, it is possible that to some listeners, we might come off as overly clinical, or even glib in our discussion of restraint and seclusion practices. If that’s the case with you, I’d like to take a moment to assure you that we take these issues very seriously, and we hope that our discussion provides a level of nuance, and possibly sophistication, that is oftentimes missing when people discuss the physical management of unsafe behavior. Session 87 is brought to you by: ABAdesk. ABAdesk is a BCBA-made data collection system that supports Frequency, Duration, Interval Recording, Task Analysis, & Trials programs. Visit www.abadesk.com and use the promo code MCPODCAST to get ½ off your first 3 months of data collection and graphing services. Behavior University. Behavior University's goal is to provide university-quality instruction for practitioners seeking continuing education! If you’re like me and re-certify at the end of June, and you still have a few CE’s to knock out, head over to behavioruniversity.com/observations, where you’ll save 10% on all courses and webinars. Lastly, Remote Fieldwork Supervision for BCBA Trainees, the book I co-wrote with Dr. Lisa Britton, who is an expert in providing high quality distance based supervision, is now out... it makes a great gift for family and friends alike!

The demands of being a Behavior Analyst can seem never-ending. Throw in parenting, relationships, finances, personal health/wellness, etc..., and things get overwhelming in a real hurry. Hashing it out at the ABAI bar In Session 86, I chat with Kristen Lancaster and Jonathan Tarbox about this whole work/life balance thing. They share some personal stories about how they've managed to not only survive, but thrive in the face of the challenges of the modern world. This conversation was recorded in-person at the 2019 Association for Behavior Analysis International conference that was held in Chicago. And despite being in such a heady academic environment, we didn't go heavy on the literature. As such, there are only a few links. As always, let me know if you hear something in the interview that I missed. The parable of the fisherman Confessions of a Behavior Analyst FB Group ACT at Work, Bond & Hayes (2002) The impact of acceptance and commitment training and multicultural training on the stigmatizing attitudes and professional burnout of substance abuse counselors, Hayes, et al. (2004) Session 50, Jonathan's first appearance on Behavioral Observations Session 16, Pat Friman's second appearance on Behavioral Observations Today’s episode is brought to you by: Go Lotus. Go Lotus’ mission is to break down the barriers of how we gather, process, and share information for children with Autism and related needs. From practice management to data collection, they do it all. It is so simple your entire team can be up and running in less than an hour. For more information, go to golotus.com/register. And by using the promo code MATT, the first 100 people will receive 90 days of our data trackers completely free. And by signing up, you’ll then receive an additional discount of 25% off the first 12 months. So again, for more info, head over to golotus.com/register. Your's Truly... right now, I have a great deal on bulk CE purchases. Get 12 Type 2 CE's for less than $100! Great for those who have procrastinated and need to re-certify by June 30th!

My guest today is Dr. Kerri Milyko, who is the owner of The Precision Teaching Learning Center in Tampa, FL as well as The Learning Consultants in Reno, Nevada. As you'll figure out right away, Kerri is Capital-P passionate about all things Precision Teaching. In this episode, she shares how she first got "the bug" at the University of Florida, and then continues on about how she's using PT today to help children with learning and behavioral challenges. In to providing services to children, Kerri also provides business to business consultation on system-wide assessment and implementation to transform agencies who want to adopt precision teaching. To further this mission, she and her colleagues have created an online self-paced curriculum on Precision Teaching. If this is something you’re interested in learning more about, click here for the various professional development offerings that are available. Even better, Kerri has provided Behavioral Observations Podcast listeners a 25% discount on course purchases (disclosure: I generate no affiliate revenue on these course purchases). During this two-hour plus interview, Kerri mentions many resources, and I've attempted to capture them here: Keller (1968). Goodbye Teacher Twyman et al (2004). A Non-Linear Approach to Curriculum Design Milyko et al (2012). An Investigation of Rapid Automatic Naming as a Generalized Operant Binder (1996). Behavioral Fluency: An Evolution of a New Paradigm Fabrizio and Moors (2003). Evaluating Mastery: Measuring Instructional Outcomes for Children with Autism Spillman & Milyko (2015). I can do this math, yo! This will most likely be my last show before heading off to ABAI. I have a few events scheduled, and if you’re interested in checking them out, click here. Either way, I love meeting listeners in person, so if you’re going to Chicago, please say hello. Today’s episode is brought to you by Go Lotus. Go Lotus’ mission is to break down the barriers of how we gather, process, and share information for children with Autism and related needs. From practice management to data collection, they do it all. It is so simple your entire team can be up and running in less than an hour. For more information, go to golotus.com/register. And by using the promo code MATT, the first 100 people will receive 90 days of our data trackers completely free. And by signing up, you’ll then receive an additional discount of 25% off the first 12 months. So again, for more info, head over to golotus.com/register. We are also brought to you by HRIC Recruiting. Let Barb Voss’ 30 years of experience help you find your dream job, or if you’re an agency, your dream candidate. For a confidential conversation about your career, reach out to Barb at https://www.hricolorado.com/contact. Lastly, you can still get free shipping for all your Essential for Living purchases through June 1st. At checkout, use code EFLBOP0501.

In session 84, Dr. Luis Morales Knight joins me to talk about his work as a Clinical Psychologist, which, as you may have guessed from the title of this episode, involves a lot of parent training and coaching. Although Luis jokes that he's not a "real Behavior Analyst," trust me, he's one of us. He is the co-founder of the Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health Center in Ocean County, California. In addition to completing a clinical psych graduate program at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, he also trained with podcast favorite, Pat Friman, at Boys Town. We didn't even scratch the surface of all the topics we wanted to cover, so I'm already thinking about a follow up interview. But first, I need to re-listen to this one and apply some of the things Luis discussed to my own parenting. Here are the links to the resources we mentioned: Pat Friman in Session 10 of this podcast Quasi obscure 80's show, Quantum Leap Parent-Child Interaction Therapy PRIDE Skills Act, don't Yak Job Card Grounding Sleeping Through the Night The Thriving Adolescent Stuff that Sucks The Self-Driven Child McGinnis Behavioral Session 84 is brought to you by: Behavior University. BU's mission is to provide university-quality continuing education to Behavior Analysis practitioners in a convenient and affordable format. Save 10% on all Continuing Education and training products with the code PODCAST. Click here for more details. The Essential for Living assessment and curriculum. Get free shipping on all purchases until June 1st by using the discount code EFLBOP0501 Lastly, Remote Fieldwork Supervision for BCBA Trainees, the book I co-wrote with Dr. Lisa Britton, who is an expert in providing high quality distance based supervision, is now out. Lastly, are you going to ABAI? I have a few events, and I'd love to see you there.

Session 83 is a roundtable discussion with Andy Chavez from BehaviorMe, Jane Logvinova from ABA Desk, and Adam Dreyfus from AnswersNow. We dive into emerging trends in the application of technology in the practice of Applied Behavior Analysis, particularly in the areas of staff training, data collection, and parental support. Specifically, we discuss the market signals that led these entrepreneurs to create their products, how their ideas have been shaped over time, how they have (or haven't) secured external funding, and how they are marketing their offerings. Throughout our discussion, my guests mentioned several resources and websites, and I have done my best to capture them here: Lighthouse Labs Techstars Headsprout Joe Layng's Machine Learning Blog post To schedule a demo, or if you just want to learn more about these amazing businesses, check out the following: BehaviorMe click here to schedule a demo Instagram ABA Desk Learn more Schedule demo Instagram Facebook (and to get 50% off your first 3 months, use promo code MCPODCAST) AnswersNow To learn more Facebook Instagram And now, for some shameless self-promotion: I am running a wicked awesome deal on Type 2 CEU's Dr. Evelyn Gould will join The Behavioral Observations Membership group for an "Ask Me Anything" (within reason), on May 1st, 2019, at 8 PM EST ABAI 2019 events that I'm participating in: Science, Communication, and Behavior Analysis: Correcting Missed Opportunities. An invited panel with Ryan O'Donnell and Dr. Matt Normand, chaired by Dr. Jonathan Pinkston Should We Be Selling Out and Commercializing Our Science?: The Stories of PECs, PEAK, and Chartlytics. I will chair this panel that will feature Drs. Andy Bondy, Mark Dixon, and Rick Kubina If you haven't done so already, check out the book that Dr. Lisa Britton and I just published, Remote Fieldwork Supervision for BCBA Trainees

In Session 82, I chat with Beth McKee, wearer of innumerable hats! According to her LinkedIn profile, she holds the following positions:Director of Rehabilitation Services at Guangxiu International Children's CenterCEO of ABA Consulting InternationalBrand Ambassador for BehaviorMeIn this episode, we discuss how Beth got her start in ABA, how she began working in China, and how she is currently scaling services in the Hunan Province region in a sustainable and ethical manner.As we discussed in the show, there are not a lot of BCBA's in China. If you don't believe me, check out this map Beth put together:We also discuss what she does when she's not practicing in China, highlighting in particular, her work with BehaviorMe. Beth often posts lots of pictures of her ABA adventures, so if you'd like to follow along, check out her Instagram (@bethmmckee).This podcast is supported by: HRIC... Your new career path starts here. Let Barb Voss find you your dream job, or, if you're an agency, let her find you your dream candidate! Let her 30 years of recruiting experience work for you. If you're interested in learning more, email her for a confidential chat.Essential for Living: A Communication, Behavior, and Life Skills Curriculum, Assessment, and Practitioner's Handbook. From now through 6/1/2019, get free shipping on all purchases using offer code EFLBOP0501.Lastly, Remote Fieldwork Supervision for BCBA Trainees, the book I co-wrote with Dr. Lisa Britton, who is an expert in providing high quality distance based supervision, is now out.

I am really excited to present this follow up conversation with one of our most popular guests, Dr. Pat McGreevy. In this episode, we start out by talking about teaching more than one student at a time, and then we move on to some of his tips and tricks for teaching waiting skills, how to avoid ratio strain, how to fade prompts, the benefits of cold probes, and more. We close the episode by taking a wide range of listener questions (e.g., "who are some unsung heroes in our field?"), and you definitely do not want to miss those. Pat has been in this business for a long time, and the wisdom he shares in this episode is priceless for sure! Session 81 of this podcast was brought to you by the following: The Essential for Living assessment and curriculum. Get free shipping on all purchases until June 1st by using the discount code EFLBOP0501 The Central Reach, Charting a New Course workshop, that's taking place on April 18th and 19th, in Needham, MA. If you're interested in saving 10% off your registration, use the promo code: PODCAST. Behavior University. BU's mission is to provide university-quality continuing education to Behavior Analysis practitioners in a convenient and affordable format. Save 10% on all Continuing Education and training products with the code PODCAST. Click here for more details. Lastly, Remote Fieldwork Supervision for BCBA Trainees, the book I co-wrote with Dr. Lisa Britton, who is an expert in providing high quality distance based supervision, is now out.

My original plan was to chat with Drs. David Palmer and Josh Pritchard about the distinctions between the Verbal Behavior, or traditional Skinnerian approach to language and cognition, and Relational Frame Theory. Well, what happened was we had a technical glitch that prevented Josh from joining Dave and me, so for the first 15-20 minutes, it’s just the two of us… Fortunately, we figured out the problem, and then Josh was able to join the conversation. So think of this podcast as being presented in two acts. What was great about this conversation was how amiably my guests were able to talk about these differing points of view. What was disappointing about this conversation… was how amiably my guests were able to talk about these differing points of view. I’m kidding of course. And this is a topic I would like to return to from time to time. I would love to hear what you think about it, so please go to the show notes for this episode, or comment on your social media channel of choice. We mentioned a handful of articles, and I’ve tried my best to provide links below. I may have missed one here and there, so let me know if you catch a reference that didn’t make it into the session notes. And while you’re at behavioralobservations.com, sign up for the newsletter, and you’ll get the show notes for subsequent episodes delivered directly to your email inbox. Data in Search of a Principle (Palmer, 2004) A Behavioral Interpretation of Memory (Palmer, 1991) Stimulus Equivalence and Arbitrary Applicable Relational Responding (Steele and Hayes, 1991) Relational Frame Theory: An Overview of the Controversy (Gross and Fox, 2009) Caio Miguel's Google Scholar page Some Logical Functions of Joint Control (Lowenkron, 1998) Some Thoughts on the Relation Between Derived Relation Responding and Verbal Behavior (Moore, 2015) Session 80 of this podcast was brought to you by the following: The Essential for Living assessment and curriculum. Get free shipping on all purchases until June 1st by using the discount code EFLBOP0501 NH ABA is hosting Dr. Solandy Forte on April 19th from 9-12 in Bedford NH for a CEU event. The title of the event is Navigating through Cultural Barriers in Applied Behavior Analysis, and is good for 3 Ethics CE’s. Again, for links to this event, simply go to the show notes for this episode, or visit NHABA.net Lastly, Remote Fieldwork Supervision for BCBA Trainees, the book I co-wrote with Dr. Lisa Britton, who is an expert in providing high quality distance based supervision, is now out.

In Session 79, I speak with Dr. Merrill Winston about the topic of mass shootings. During our chat, Merrill mentioned that mass shooting events will continue to happen. Sadly, his words were prescient, because a few days after we recorded our conversation, the horrific events in New Zealand took place. I suppose the tenor of the discussion would’ve been more somber if the timing was reversed, and speaking for myself, I apologize if the conversation comes off as tone deaf or unserious. Nevertheless, I have reached out to other behavior analysts who have looked at this topic, and if this is something you’d like to hear more about, please let me know and I’ll schedule some additional interviews. In any case, despite the sad nature of the subject matter, I hope you find Merrill’s analysis of these events as interesting and thought provoking as I did. Here are some links that we either discussed and/or may be of interest: Merrill's slide show on mass shootings The book, What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Enemy, Containing the Threat, by Louise Richardson The Professional Crisis Management Association website The PCMA YouTube channel, where Merrill has posted videos on several different topics of interest A video teaser for Merrill's upcoming appearance on The Controversial Exchange podcast This podcast is supported by: Essential for Living: A Communication, Behavior, and Life Skills Curriculum, Assessment, and Practitioner's Handbook. From now through 6/1/2019, get free shipping on all purchases using offer code EFLBOP0501 HRIC... Your new career path starts here. Let Barb Voss find you your dream job, or, if you're an agency, let her find you your dream candidate! Let her 30 years of recruiting experience work for you. If you're interested in learning more, email her for a confidential chat