Graduate Level Coursework in Applied Behavior Analysis

Restrictions: None

This course is designed to provide students with an understanding of the behavior analytic approach to child development. By the end of the course, students should be able to understand the differences between the behavior analytic approach and other developmental system approaches and be familiar with the current literature as it relates to general areas of development (e.g., motor, social, emotional, cognitive). The course will be a mix of lecture presentations and classroom discussion.

This course will orient students to the ethical and professional guidelines for Board Certified Behavior Analysts. The course will review ethical guidelines for assessment, treatment, and research. Students will learn to describe and apply professional and ethical guidelines specifying the Behavior Analysts' responsibility to their clients, colleagues, and field and to society.

This course will provide students with a foundation in etiological, diagnostic, ethical, and treatment-related considerations affecting services for individuals with autism and other disabilities. Topics of study will include current data on causal variables, issues in early identification, and a survey of evidence-based models of treatment, outcome evaluation, and effective systems support for individuals with pervasive developmental disabilities.

This course will provide students with a comprehensive review of the theoretical foundations of radical behaviorism and the history of behaviorism in psychology. The primary focus will be to outline the fundamental underpinnings of a science of the individual. Students will be exposed to Skinner's theoretical writings, which will be compared and contrasted with contemporary conceptualizations of complex human behavior.

Restrictions: None

This course will orient students to the concepts, processes, and scientific principles of behavior on which the field of applied behavior analysis was founded. Topics of study will include the history and defining features of applied behavior analysis as well as the role of basic principles in producing socially meaningful behavior change (positive and negative reinforcement, punishment, discriminative control of behavior, and motivating operations).

An examination of the factors to be considered in observing and measuring behavior and environment; methods of recording data with emphasis on the conditions under which each method is most appropriate. An overview of strategies and tactics of experimental design in behavior analysis. Includes strengths and weaknesses of single organism methodology in basic and applied research. Topics include issues of experimental logic, experimental control, variability, data analysis and display, and interpretation of experimental findings.

This course will provide an introduction to key concepts, methods, and ethical considerations associated with behavioral assessment. Course objectives will include teaching students to distinguish between idiographic and norm-referenced assessment approaches, to conduct pertinent behavioral assessments (preference assessments, functional assessments, and skills assessments), and to incorporate assessment outcomes with treatment selection and design in accordance with contemporary best practices in the field of applied behavior analysis.

This course will prepare students to identify, implement, and maintain effective behavioral interventions in applied settings. Specific objectives will include teaching students to select and implement function- based interventions for the reduction of problem behaviors, skills-based prevention strategies, and a variety of behavioral teaching tactics. Tactics for promoting procedural integrity and facilitating the generalization and maintenance of treatment effects also will be reviewed.

This course will provide students with a comprehensive review of empirically-supported behavioral teaching procedures for individuals with autism and related disabilities. Topics will focus on teaching skills in a variety of content areas such as language, social, and self-help. Procedures for teaching these include match-to-sample discrimination training, task analysis, as well as prompting procedures including prompt fading and video modeling.

This course will expose students to the basis for a functional analysis of human language with an emphasis on application. Topics will include the elementary verbal operants, the ways in which verbal behavior is established, the relevance of the behavior of the listener, and the organization of verbal behavior. Focus will be placed on the use of an analysis of verbal behavior in addressing socially significant problems.

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to a behavior-analytic approach to supervision and personnel management. The aim of this course is for student to be able to apply skills related to personnel supervision and performance management across settings, including schools, homes, and clinics. At the end of this course, students should be familiar with the literature and practice related to using behavior-analytic supervision, risks of ineffective supervision, assessing personnel skills, competency-based personnel training, monitoring treatment integrity, making data-based and fuction- based decisions on personnel performance, strategies to improve performance, and effecting the effects of supervision.

Restrictions: None

This seminar will conduct an in-depth review of a current topic in Applied Behavior Analysis. Topics may include but are not limited to: social development, performance management, stimulus control, behavioral therapy.

This practicum will involve 22-25 hours per week (total of 300 per semester) of work in a supervised clinical practice, educational, or research setting in which procedures based on behavior-analytic principles are implemented.

The objective of this course is to provide students with advanced skills related to the development of clinical skills to design, implement, and modify behavior-analytic programs, to assess and treat problem behavior, and to supervise and train others implementing behavior-analytic programs; to provide students with training to develop professional skills; and to provide students support and mentoring for practicum activities. This practicum will involve 22-25 hours per week (total of 300 per semester) of work in a supervised clinical practice, educational, or research setting in which procedures based on behavior-analytic principles are implemented.

Restrictions: None

The objective of this course is to provide students with advanced skills related to the development of clinical skills to design, implement, and modify behavior-analytic programs, to assess and treat problem behavior, and to supervise and train others implementing behavior-analytic programs; to provide students with training to develop professional skills; and to provide students support and mentoring for practicum activities and the capstone project, portfolio, and exam to complete the ABA program. This practicum will involve 22-25 hours per week (total of 300 per semester) of work in a supervised clinical practice, educational, or research setting in which procedures based on behavior-analytic principles are implemented.

Restrictions: None