The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria

Latest Episodes:

How to Teach Social Skills with Role Playing Games: Session 190 with Rob Harvey Jun 03, 2022

Show notes

Have you ever felt the thrill of rolling a 20-sided die? If you're in the general demographic of a Behavioral Observations listener, I'd guess probably not. However, it may not surprise you to learn that being the cosmically uncoordinated and socially challenged kid of the 80s, I certainly have.

Which is why I jumped at the chance to speak with Session 190 guest, Rob Harvey, about how he uses role-playing games, like Dungeons and Dragons (D&D for short), to teach social skills to his clients.

If you're not familiar with D&D, don't worry. We go over what that is in this podcast. Rob also goes on to explain that by playing these games, clients get to practice skills like speech prosody, turn taking, teamwork, conflict resolution, perspective taking, and so much more. So even if you are not interested in role-playing games in principle, you might want to check this show out nonetheless because of the benefits it may have for the people you work with.

I would also offer that this type of activity seems like an unexplored area for research. Rob shared some of the anecdotal outcomes he's seen in this podcast, and it just made me think of how great it would be to see if these findings could be scientifically investigated. As far as numbers go, Rob has some data that suggest over 90% of his clients go on to play these games with peers outside of therapeutic hours, so it definitely seems like something is there.

Here links to things we discussed:

Rob's grad program and BOP Sponsor (and no, we didn't plan this), University of Cincinnati Online.
Rob's band, Vose.
D & D stuff on Amazon (disclosure: affiliate link).
Famous people who play D & D.
Dungeons & Dragons Reddit.
Dungeons & Dragons Wikipedia page.
D & D Discord.
What is an Alignment?
Here's a quiz to find out your alignment.
Game To Grow organization.
Geek Therapeutics organization.
Link to the Stranger Things D&D scene from the picture above.

Session 190 is brought to you with support from:

HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away.
Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations.
The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the "request info" button.
Lastly, need CEUs on the go? Check out the podcasts that are available for BACB Continuing Education.

Real World Functional Assessment and Treatment: Apollo CSS 2 with Jim Moore May 19, 2022

Show notes

Oh boy, as the kids these days say, this show is a straight up banger. Dr. Jim Moore joins me again in our second installment in the Apollo Case Study Series, where we go deep into all things functional assessment.

Right out of the gate, I want to note that we do spend time reviewing both functional analysis and treatment data of clients that Jim has worked with in the past. We do the best we can to narrate the these data, but you're going to want to go to the show notes of the episode to see what we're talking about in order to get the most out of the discussion.

OK, in this episode, we discuss the following:

How much evidence does one need in order to move forward with a behavioral intervention.
How to assess the confidence in your functional assessment interview, and get the most out of these interactions with caregivers.
How to train staff to be great interviewers.
Treatment decisions based on functional assessment outcomes.
When to use Isolated vs. Synthesized contingencies.
How the staff at Apollo are mentored and supported in these functional assessment and treatment strategies.

This list could actually go on and on (including a sidebar about values-based care - a topic I'd like to return to at some point), so I encourage you to listen to the episode all the way through. For example, in the last moments of the show, we discussed how to navigate some of the quasi-tribal verbal behavior that comes with the functional analysis territory. You definitely don't want to miss that.

Here are some links to resources we discussed in this episode:

The inaugural Apollo Case Study Series show where Jim discusses scientific problem-solving.
Mueller, Sterling, and Moore (2005). Towards Developing a Classroom-Based Functional Analysis Condition to Assess Escape-to-Attention as a Variable Maintaining Problem Behavior.
A podcast I did with longtime friend, Dr. Jim Murphy, on Motivational Interviewing.
Forehand and Long book, as well as a podcast I did on those parenting principles with Brandon Franklin.
Apollo Behavior's website, as well as their Facebook and LinkedIn pages.
House, MD.

How to Write a Behavior Contract: Session 188 with Jill Dardig and Bill Heward May 12, 2022

Show notes

This was a fun one for sure. In Session 188, I chatted with Drs. Jill Dardig and Bill Heward about a whole host of topics, including their new book, Let's Make a Contract: A positive way to change your child's behavior.

In this conversation, we covered:

How Jill and Bill discovered Behavior Analysis, especially at a time when it wasn't as ubiquitous as it is now.
How they of course met each other (yes, there is a love story here).
Why they wrote an earlier iteration of this book titled, Sign Here: A contracting book for children and their parents.
The success Jill and Bill had in getting their works translated in various languages, and distributed to countries across the globe.
The power of storytelling.
The basics of behavioral contracting.
Special circumstances that make contracting challenging, and what to do about them.
What to make of the "open economy" of today's screen-based reinforcers.
Directions for future research in this area.
Advice for the newly minted.
Their hopes for the future of ABA.

This bullet list of course could go on and on. There are so many storylines in this conversation, from the history of ABA, to dissemination across cultures and languages, to the power of storytelling, to parenting, and so much more. I think there is something in this episode for everyone (note: we get to the actual mechanics of behavioral contracting about 1/2 to 2/3 the way into the conversation). Bill and Jill more generally offer some great parenting strategies in their description of the contracting process.

We discussed some of the following resources in this episode:

Their book of course, Let's Make a Contract.
Michael (1993). Concepts and Principles of Behavior Analysis.
Highlights for Children magazine.
Risley (2005). Montrose Wolf memoriam in JABA.
Today's ABA with Greg Hanley (Session 160; shameless plug: CEU for this podcast here).
Gover et al (2021). On the generality of preference for contingent reinforcement.
Their soon-to-be developed companion website for the book.
Strain and Joseph (2004). A not so good job with "good job," A response to Cohn (2001).

Session 188 is brought to you with support from:

HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away.
Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations.
The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the "request info" button.

Also:

Check out the BOP Patreon Tiers if you want an ad-free feed that includes occasional bonus content!
Need CEUs on the go? Check out the podcasts that are available for BACB Continuing Education.

How to Help Individuals with Anxiety: Session 187 with Steve Ward May 05, 2022

Show notes

In Session 187, Steve Ward joins me to discuss how to help individuals - in particular, individuals with severely limited communicated repertoires - who demonstrate challenging repertoires that are colloquially referred to as Anxiety.

Given that tortured sentence, you can probably already imagine that in this episode, we discuss how Steve conceptualizes what exactly Anxiety is, especially in populations who cannot verbally report on their private verbal behavior. More importantly, we discuss how he developed what he calls the "calm counts" procedure, and review a case study of this intervention that he recently published.

Here are the resources we discussed in this podcast:

Using Differential Reinforcement in the Presence of Stressors to Teach Self-Calming (Ward, 2022).
Calm Counts data sheet.
Video of the technique being implemented.
Whole Child Consulting (Steve's website that has tons of resources).
Whole Child Consulting FB Page.
Good Learner Repertoires FB Group.
Task As Reinforcer paper.
Pink Floyd reference.
Top Shelf Sports Bar and Grille.
Steve's first appearance on BOP, Session 111.
Friman, Hayes, and Wilson (1998). Why Behavior Analysts Should Study Emotion: The example of anxiety.

This session is brought to you with support from:

Behavior Development Solutions (aka "BDS") is back to sponsor Behavioral Observations! I know BDS, because their modules were part of my own exam prep strategy when I took the BCBA exam back in 2002. Their modules are so thorough, you'll feel confident at the Board Exam and, you'll be well prepared for your career. It's the premier exam-prep and curriculum supplement for BCBA and BCaBA candidates with a 98.5% pass rate for first-time BCBA exam takers… plus a money-back guarantee! They also have solutions for RBT aspirants, plus CE courses and live webinars (most of which are free for anyone to attend). To learn more, head over to "bds.com forward-slash "B O P" for a special offer!
The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the "request info" button.
Pick up some CEUs while you listen to Behavioral Observations! Click here to see the various ACE events on topics like Functional Assessment, Trauma-Informed Behavior Analysis, ACT, and much more!

Adopting Precision Teaching Across a Multi-State Provider: Session 186 with Chrissy Barosky Apr 22, 2022

Show notes

In Session 186, I am joined by Chrissy Barosky, Clinical Director for Bierman Autism Centers. In this episode, we discussed how their organization adopted a Precision Teaching approach for their learners.

You heard that correctly, a large multi-state organization transitioned all of their data collection practices to the Standard Celeration Chart. So in this show, we dive into how Chrissy and her colleagues managed to pull this off, what they learned during the process, and the benefits they've seen from taking on such a large endeavor.

We also discussed a paper that Chrissy and her colleagues published in Behavior Analysis in Practice titled, Increasing Trials Presented to Children With Autism: Using Frequency Building With Modeling and Feedback. This is a case study of how the authors taught behavioral technicians to improve the efficiency of their teaching using a frequency-building approach.

Whether or not you care about the chart, I think this is an interesting episode because it speaks to a larger issue of organizational change. Chances are, if you're listing to this podcast, you're not using the chart. Imagine for a moment that your agency decided to adopt it? So in many respects, this episode presents an opportunity for a fun thought experiment about about changing clinical practices, and I hope you find the exercise helpful.

As a matter of housekeeping, I to apologize for some of the audio quality challenges issues we had during this episode, including my dogs barking for several minutes when my town decided to do some tree-trimming along my road. I don't think it detracts from the overall conversation, but wanted to make a note of this.

Here are links to some of the resources we mentioned:

Bierman Autism Centers
Can precision teaching save the world?
Barosky, Keane, and Gallagher (2021). Increasing Trials Presented to Children With Autism: Using Frequency Building With Modeling and Feedback
A slideshow where a 5 year old teaches a charting tutorial (translation: you can do it too!)
Where you can purchase charts and learn more.
The Standard Celeration Society FB group
Links to several BOP shows on Precision Teaching
Bulla et al (2021). Introduction to the Special Section: Precision Teaching: Discoveries and Applications
Octave's Project Blue training for aspiring charters
Rick Kubina's Precision Teaching books
PrecisionX charting software

Session 186 is brought to you with support from:

HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away.
Behavior University. (who incidentally is sponsoring the Stone Soup Conference!) Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations.
The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the "request info" button.

Inside JABA Series 11: Functional Analysis Patterns of Automatic Reinforcement Apr 15, 2022

Show notes

In Session 185, AKA Inside JABA Series #11, I'm joined by Drs. Linda LeBlanc, Jeff Tiger, and Javier Virues-Ortega for a deep dive into automatically maintained behavior. This session was inspired by the study Javier and his colleagues published in the Spring 2022 issue of JABA (Virues-Ortega, Clayton, Perez-Bustamante, Gaerlan, and Fahmie, 2022).

In this episode, we discuss the nature of, and challenges with automatically-maintained problem behavior. And this is tackled from both conceptual and treatment angles. As I mention in the episode, I don't encounter these types of problem behaviors that frequently these days, so it was a treat to update my knowledge in this area.

It's easy to think of automatic reinforcement as a monolith, but as it turns out, even dividing it up between positive and negative reinforcement may not be sufficient enough to render effective treatment.

We spent probably the first 25-30 minutes discussing some of the known challenges associated with assessing and treating these repertoires, and then spend the remaining time discussing Javier and his colleagues' paper, which presented two very unique investigations.

If you work with individuals with these profiles, you'll want to listen all the way through, and better still, check out the paper itself.

Here are some of the studies we discussed:

Functional analysis patterns of automatic reinforcement: A review and component analysis of treatment effects (Virues-Ortega et al., 2022)
An analysis of the reinforcing properties of handmouthing (Goh et al., 1995)
Delineating subtypes of Self Injurious Behavior maintained by automatic reinforcement (Hagopian, Rooker, and Zarcone, 2015).
A retrospective analysis of stereotypy: Applicability of the behavioral subtyping model (Wunderlich, Hemstreet and Best, 2022; not discussed during this episode, but in the same issue of JABA, and on my list to read next).

Lastly, I'd be remiss if I did not take a minute to thank Linda LeBlanc for reaching out to me to start the Inside JABA series. As I tell her every chance I get, I consider it an honor to be involved with the flagship journal in our field. If someone told me as an undergraduate at the University of New Hampshire that I'd be regularly involved with JABA in some capacity, I wouldn't have believed them.

As some of you might know, Linda's term as Editor in Chief is expiring, but we are planning to continue the podcast series with incoming EIC, Dr. John Borrero. More info on this to come, but in the meantime, please enjoy this installment of the Inside JABA Series.

The Apollo Case Study Series: Session 184 with Jim Moore Apr 08, 2022

Show notes

I'm really excited to introduce a new special podcast series that I'm publishing with Dr. Jim Moore of Apollo Behavior. In this series, we're going to talk about a lot of practical topics that we hope will resonate with BCBA's of all experience levels.

We have great plans to discuss topics like supervision, functional assessment, skill acquisition, and much more. Real world challenges that just about every practitioner faces.

In this episode, we focused on a clinical problem solving model that Jim's been developing over the years. So if you're working with learners who are struggling to make progress, this is the show for you.

We don't have a ton of links for this one, but here are some things that we referenced:

Lastly, I should note that this series is brought to you ad-free by Apollo Behavior. If you're interested in what they do, and/or if you want to learn more about what Jim discussed, reach out to them either at info@apollobehavior.com or jim@apollobehavior.com.

World Behavior Analysis Day 2022: Session 183 with Elizabeth Drago Mar 20, 2022

Show notes

I've seen posts on social media here and there about World Behavior Analysis Day, but honestly I did not know a whole lot about it. And this is why I was really excited to sit down and chat with WBAD President, Elizabeth Drago, for a deep dive.

It turns out that WBAD is more than a 'high five' amongst like minded behavioral scientists. In fact, the WBAD Alliance is doing a lot for dissemination, especially internationally. So as you might expect by now, we get into that and a whole lot more in this special episode of Behavioral Observations!

In our chat, Elizabeth mentioned various resources, etc... and I hope I've captured all of them below:

The WBAD main website
The WBAD contact page for inquiries
WBAD on YouTube
Ways to get involved
WBAD on Facebook and Instagram

Please note:

Check out the 2022 Verbal Behavior Conference!
Learn about the benefits of subscribing via Patreon!
Grab some CEUs on the go... learn by listening to your favorite Behavior Analysts!

Preventing Problem Behaviors with Universal Protocols: Session 182 with Kevin Luczynski Mar 17, 2022

Show notes

Dr. Kevin Luczynski joins me for a really fun conversation in Session 182 of The Behavioral Observations Podcast. If you're not familiar with Kevin, he is an Assistant Professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the Director for the recently initiated Virtual Care Program at the Munroe Meyer Institute.

In this episode, we cover the following:

How Kevin discovered Behavior Analysis.
How Kevin endeared himself to his then co-worker, now wife, and previous BOP guest, Dr. Nicole Rodriguez.
What inspired some of the early Preschool Life Skills studies.
How universal protocols like Balance and PLS fit into PBIS.
The role of preference for contingent reinforcement, and,
A brief primer on Joint Control... something I am not very familiar with, but am looking forward to learning more about, especially at Kevin's upcoming talks at the 2022 Verbal Behavior Conference.

Kevin also leaves us with four pieces of just outstanding advice. I've been pushing my guests lately to really think hard about answering this question lately, and Kevin does not disappoint. As such, you're going to want to listen through to the end.

For Patreon subscribers, we spend an additional 5-10 minutes talking about his interest in the role that ecological validity plays in applied research.

Here are some resources for what we discussed:

Session 164 with Kelsey Ruppel.
The folks at FTF!
An Introduction to Joint Control. Lowenkron (2006).
The maintenance of behavior change as an indicator of social validity. Kennedy (2002).
Nearly all the other publications we discussed.
Never split the difference, Chris Voss.
How to have impossible conversations, Boghossian and Lindsay.
Cruciallearning.com.

This podcast is brought to you with support from:

Institutional Tier Patron Greenspace Behavioral Technology. Greenspace behavior offers cutting edge supervisor coaching, performance and competency-based trainings, and organizational supports for new BCBA and trainees. Find out how you can optimize your supervision practices, improve clinical outcomes, and increase employee satisfaction at Greenspacebehavior.com.
We are also brought to you by HRIC Recruiting. If you're a new BCBA – or a BCBA of any experience level for that matter – and you need an independent person to advise you on today's job market, go to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential appointment with Barbara Voss.
Are you interested in getting CEUs on the go, all while listening to your favorite BOP episodes? Click here to learn more!

The Craft of Applied Behavior Analysis: Session 181 with Francesca Degli Espinosa Mar 02, 2022

Show notes

In Session 181, Dr. Francesca Degli Espinosa, Ph.D, BCBA-D, joins me for a wide-ranging conversation that in my opinion, got better and better as it went on!

If you're not familiar with Francesca or her work, she is director and consultant at ABA Clinic Ltd., adjunct professor at the University of Salerno, and a guest lecturer at Queen's College, Belfast, and Pennsylvania State University. She is regarded as an expert in Skinner's analysis of verbal behavior, and will be one of the featured speakers at the 2022 Verbal Behavior Conference, which incidentally, is coming up right around the corner.

We cover quite a lot in this interview, including why she pivoted away from studying medicine, her first response to reading Verbal Behavior, how she 'stalked' Vince Carbone at a conference, her paper, Teaching generalized question-discrimination skills to children with Autism: Conceptual and applied considerations, why clinicians at all levels should still do direct therapy, what she plans to discuss at this year's Verbal Behavior Conference, why we should seek to understand concepts and principles better rather than being overly technological in nature, and lots more!

As always, we close the public feed with Francesca sharing some excellent advice for newly-minted BCBA's. And, for you, the Patreon subscriber, we spend another 15-minutes or so discussing dog training. In this subscriber-only segment, Francesca talks about why she finally got a dog (his name is Darwin), the ups and downs of training, and what she's learned from this experience.

Other resources mentioned in this podcast

Schlinger (1995). A Behavior Analytic View of Child Development.
Remington et al. (2007). Early intensive behavioral intervention: Outcomes for children with Autism and their parents after two years.
Michael, Palmer, and Sundberg (2011). The multiple control of verbal behavior.
Horne and Lowe (1996). On the origins of naming and other symbolic behavior.
Miguel (2016). Common and Intraverbal Bidirectional Naming.
Verbal Behavior Conference registration page.

Session 181 is brought to you with support from:

Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations.
Tate Behavioral, a progressive ABA provider located in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts. If you're a BCBA looking to work for a supportive and innovative team, and live in the heart of charming New England, visit their jobs page by clicking here!
The Secret Agent Society Small Group Program helps kids 8 to 12 years old crack the code of emotions and friendships through an animated 'secret agent' theme. With a sophisticated digital health platform now at the heart of the program, you can deliver groups face-to-face, with telehealth, or a combination of formats. Follow this link to book a live demo from anywhere around the world. Also, don't forget to mention that "Matt sent you" to have your SAS Provider establishment fee waived (a minimum $500 USD value)!
Last but not least, special thanks goes to this year's Verbal Behavior Conference! Click here to learn more and register.

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