BEHV 3660

SURVEY OF APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS LITERATURE

Fall 2013

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Fall 13 BEHV 3660

Instructor

Shahla Ala’i Rosales, Ph.D., BCBA-D

Office Hours:

Tuesdays 9-12

Room 361D Chilton Hall

Course Meeting Information

Tuesday & Thursday 12:30-1:50

Sage 230

Course Tutoring:

M, T, W, R 9-11 & F 10-12

361E Chilton

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Fall 13 BEHV 3660

ADA Statement

The Department of Behavior Analysis, in cooperation with The Office of Disability Accommodation, complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Please present your written request to me before the 3rd class meeting.

Succeed at UNT

succeed.unt.edu

Show Up

Active involvement allows you to make the most of your experience. Participate, ask questions, and engage in 3660 learning opportunities.

Find Support

Create study groups with your classmates and visit Kim, the course tutor, for on-going support.

Take Control

If you feel as if you need greater support after the first exam (or would just like to enhance your academic skills), sign up for the self-management program to redeem your missing points (or earn extra credit) and learn ways to better structure and analyze your behavior so you can succeed.

Be Prepared

Do the readings before class and study before each test.

Get Involved

Explore areas within behavior analysis by attending BAASA meetings, Friday BARC presentations, and volunteering in DBA labs and service settings.

Be Persistent

“The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” Chinese Proverb

Course Objectives

The purpose of this class is to introduce the student to the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), the wide range of application areas within the field, and its usefulness in addressing the problems of modern day society. The course is also designed to teach the student skills to thoughtfully analyze applied research and develop a meaningful understanding of how ABA benefits individuals and society. Specific course objectives include:

  1. Describe and discuss dimensions of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)
  2. Describe domains of research in ABA (populations, importance, & issues)
  3. Describe essential elements of an experiment in ABA (informative introduction, technically sound descriptions of procedures, useful and ethical experimental design, meaningful dependent variables, reasonable and conceptually systematic interpretations)
  4. Develop critical and constructive evaluations of researchin ABA (contributions, limitations, and directions)
  5. Summarize and present one experiment from the ABA research literature
  6. Design a plausible experiment in one domain of ABA
  7. Utilize library, internet, and other resources to access relevant studies in the behavior analytic research literature
  8. Enhance skills related to effective professional conduct (self-directed learning, civil and considerate behavior, thoughtful discussion, cooperative project work, polished work products)

Required Materials

  • Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis
  • Science and Human Behavior
  • Students will also be required to conduct independent literature searches

Student Activities, Requirements, and Point Allocations

Activity / Requirements / Points
Reading Responses / Students will read assigned experimental articles and analyze using the reading response form. These articles will be discussed in class. / NO POINTS- but you will do better on the exam if you fill out the forms
Research Review (Behavior AnalysisDigestInternational) / Students are to summarize and present one experimental article. Sample reviews will be provided. Each student will give the class a 5 minute presentation that includes a handout (summary and graph). / 20 points
Study Proposal / Students will propose the design of a plausible experiment in ABA (describing a problem of social importance, dependent and independent variables an experimental design, probable results and discussion and reflection). The written paper will be submitted and a short summary will be presented in class at the end of the semester. / 20 points
Unit Exams / Students will take fourcumulative unitexams. These will cover all readings, course lectures, and class discussions. The format will be essay, short answer and multiple-choice. / 60 points total
Unit I. 5
Unit II. 10
UnitIII. 15
Unit IV. 30
Extra Credit / Self Management Project
(recording, graphing, & report)
If completing self-management Project MUST sign up with Kim by September 19 / 15
TOTAL POINTS / Grading Scale
A= 100-90, B=89-80, C=79-70, D=69-60, F= 59 or below / 100

“Tipping Points”

Throughout the course of the semester I will give up to 5 points for special assignments. These points do not count toward your grade but earning these points will weigh in decisions to consider points that teeter between grades and the strength of recommendation letters.

Course ScheduleFall 2013

Date / Topic / Assignments
Aug 29 / Course Overview / Ask questions
UNIT I Research Methods in Applied Behavior Analysis
Sept 3 / Science, Behavior,
and Applied Behavior Analysis / Reading 1: Skinner (2005) Chapters 1 & 2
Reading 2: Baer, Wolf, & Risley (1968) JABA
Sept 5 / Understanding Research: Methods / Reading 3: Horner (2005)
Sept 10 / Understanding Research: Scope
Reviewing research & Forms & Examples / Reading 4: Wolf (1978)
Reading 5: Fawcett (1991)
Review Instructions and Examples
Topic and date assignments
Sept 12 / Practice Article / Reading 6: LeBlanc, et al (2003) JABA
Sept17 / UNIT I EXAM / Covers material from 9/3 to 9/12
UNIT II Protected Populations: Disabilities & Gerontology
Sept 19 / Protection Issues / Reading 7: Bannerman (1990) JABA
Review Presentations
Sept 24 / Protected Research Areas / Reading 8:Pelaez et al (2012) JABA
Reading 9: McClanahan (1975) JABA
Review Presentations
Sept 26 / Disabilities Issues / Reading 10: Risley (1999) PBS
Review Presentations
Oct 1 / Disabilities Research / Reading 11: Ellis, et al (2009) RIDD
Reading 12:Car & Durand (1985) JABA
Review Presentations
Oct 3 / Gerontology Issues / Reading 13: Burgio & Burgio (1986) JABA
Review Presentations
Oct 8 / Gerontology Research / Reading 14: Pinkston (1986) JABA
Reading 15:Dwyer-Moore & Dixon (2007) JABA
Review Presentations
Oct 10 / NO CLASS / Select topics for proposal, prepare for exam
Oct 15 / UNIT II EXAM / Covers material from 9/3 to 10/10
UNIT III Protected Populations: Education & Healthcare
Oct 17 / Preparing your research proposal / Reading 16: Risley (2001) History of Behavioral Therapies
Oct 22 / Education Issues / Reading 17: Sulzar & Gillat (1990) JABA
Review Presentations
Oct 24 / Education Research / Reading 18: Hall (1968) JABA
Reading 19:Ross & Horner (2009)
Review Presentations
Oct29 / Healthcare Issues / Reading 20: Lichtenstein (1997) Preventative Medicine
Review Presentations
Oct 31 / Healthcare Research / Reading 21: Elder (1987) Community Health
Reading 22:Friman et al (1986)
Review Presentations
Nov 5 / Addictions Issues / Reading 23: Silverman, Roll & Higgens (2008)
Review Presentations
Nov 7 / Addictions Research / Reading 24: Kazbour & Bailey (2010)
Reading 25:Fox & Rubinoff (1979) JABA
Review Presentations
Nov 12 / UNIT III EXAM / Covers material from 9/3 to 11/7
UNIT IV New Frontiers
Nov 14 / Non-human Welfare / Reading 26: Edwards and Poling (2011) JABA
Reading 27: Dorey et al (2009) JABA
Reading 28:Ferguson & Rosales-Ruiz (2001)
Review Presentations
Nov 19 / Sustainability / Reading 29:Lehman and Geller (2004) BSI
Reading 30: Bekker et al (2010) JABA
Reading 31:O’Conner et al (2010) JABA
Review Presentations
Nov21 / Catch up / Review Presentations
Proposal Preparations
Exam Review
Nov 26 / NO CLASS / Proposals due email to
Nov 28 / NO CLASS / Happy Thanksgiving!
Dec 3 / Proposal Presentations / 5 min presentations
Dec 5 / Proposal Presentations / 5 min presentations
Dec 12
10:30-12:30 / Cumulative Final Exam / Covers material from 9/3 to 12/3

BEHV 3660

Research Reading Response Form

Student ______Reading Number ______

Author (s)______

Year ______Journal ______

Title ______

For each section of the experiment, answer these questions:

I. Introduction

  • Why is this an important area of research? What problem does it address?
  • What is the experimental question?

II. Method

  • Who were the participants?What were the protections (respect, justice, beneficence)?
  • What dependent variables were measured and how were they measured?
  • What were the procedures during baseline conditions?
  • What was the independent variable (various labels, such as “intervention”, “training”, “phases”, or “conditions”)?
  • What was the experimental design? What did it control for? What did it not control for?

III. Results

  • How was the data analyzed and displayed?What were the results?
  • Was a change demonstrated? What else could have accounted for the changes?

IV. Discussion

  • How does this study contribute to solving the problems described in the introduction?
  • What are the limitations of the study?What would be helpful to study next?

IV. Dimensions of ABA

Applied

Behavioral

Analytic

Technological

Conceptual

Effective

Generality

V. How does this study relate to your life?

BEHV 3660 Self-Management Program

Instructions: Student should have instructor or tutor fill the first two cells, attach reading outlines to this document, attach a graph of minutes spent on coursework, and provide a description of behavior related to the course from September 26th until the final exam date. Any systematic changes in conditions should be noted appropriately on the graph. To receive full points, the completed project must be handed in by December 12, 2013.

Student ______

Class attendance
(ask for instructor initials at the end of class) / Tutoring
(ask tutor to date & initial at the end of tutoring) / *Attach reading response forms
* Record minutes spent on coursework outside of class (studying, practicing, doing projects)
September 19
September 24
September 26
October 3
October 8
October 10
October 15
October 17
NO CLASS
October 22
October 24
Class attendance
(ask for instructor initials at the end of class) / Tutoring
(ask tutor to date & initial at the end of tutoring) / *Attach reading outlines
* Record minutes spent on coursework outside of class (studying, practicing, doing projects)
October 29
October 31
November 5
November 7
November 12
November 14
November 19
November 21
November 26
November 27
NO CLASS
December 3
December 5

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Fall 13 BEHV 3660