Radical ABA
Special Interest Group
Why should I join Radical ABA SIG?
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"What makes behaviorism radical is the claim that a science of behavior can be a natural science".
- they are not facts, they simply happen (Baum, 2005);
- they must be explained by other natural events.
Even neurophysiology can be omitted. Of course it is not hypothetical, but it only reveals the mechanism and not how the behavior came about.
"Unicorns and fairies are imaginary because most of us never encounter them and, therefore, do not need them to explain the world around us".
Mission
We can summarize our mission with the sentence: we are here to kill unicorns!
The Radical ABA SIG brings together individuals who want to spread a Radical Analysis of Behavior.
Such individuals can deal with both diagnosed (autism, intellectual disability, dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, etc.) and undiagnosed clients of different ages and learning levels, and in different settings such as home, schools, company, etc…
The SIG mission can be explained by the followings six purposes:
2. Promote best practices in relation to procedures/interventions based on Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) principles.
3. Help students, families, and consumers identify components of evidence-based practices, quality behavioural interventions, and effective treatments.
4. Help protect students and their families from ineffective, non-evidence-based and/or potentially harmful interventions.
5. Serve as a scientific and professional reference and networking group for its members.
6. Provide a forum for discussion on the SIG topics.
The Problem
To date, there are two main areas of implementation of ABA, both supported by a huge amount of data on effectiveness of ABA interventions:
Despite that, today there is a split between scientific ABA (technically strong, based on measurement, quantitative data analysis and demonstration) and “low-level” ABA (which is instead applied without regard to scientific rigor), which we refer to as “ABBBA.”
The Radical ABA SIG wants to highlight for the general public that many professionals apply ABBBA addressing mentalisms like trauma[3] and recommending to use interventions that go against the evidence cumulated in the scientific literature[4].
The Radical ABA SIG analyses scientific literature about behavioral and non behavioral interventions from a Radical prospective, helping the audience to discriminate the natural science of behavior from never proved theories.
KILL UNICORNS, with no mercy.
Scientific Committee
Nicola Cefalo
Education area Director
Michael Nicolosi
Autism area Director
Satia Riva
Verbal Behavior area Director
Francesca Siciliano
Stereotypies, autonomy, self-occupation area Director
Gerard Enrico
Graphics and secretariat
Social media Managers
Antonio Gambardella
Social Media Manager
Adele Licata Tissi
Social Media Manager
Become part of the group!
References
[1] E.g., Eikeseth, Klintwall, Lahr, & Karlsson, 2012; Klintwall, Eldevik, & Eikeseth, 2015; Nicolosi & Dillenburger, 2022; etc.
[2] E.g., Binder & Watkins, 1990; Joslyn, Donaldson, Austin, & Vollmer, 2019; White, 1986; etc
[3] Rajaraman, Austin, Gover, Cammilleri, Donnelly & Hanley, 2021; Toole, 2023; McVery, 2022; Abogado, 2022; Breaux & Smith, 2023; 49th ABAI Annual Convention Program, 2023.
[4] E.i.; “providing all possible reinforcers to a dangerous behavior to prevent its further escalation”, Call & Lomas-Mevers, 2014; Rajaraman & Hanley, 2020; Warner et al., 2020.
Bibliography
● Baum, W. M. (2005). Understanding behaviorism: Behavior, culture, and evolution (Second Edition). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
● Baum, W. M. (2011). What is radical behaviorism? A review of Jay Moore’s Conceptual Foundations of Radical Behaviorism. Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior, 95(1), 119-126.
● Binder, C., & Watkins, C. L. (1990). Precision Teaching and Direct Instruction: Measurably superior instructional technology in schools. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 3(4), 74-96.
● Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (2007). Applied behavior analysis.
● Eikeseth, S., Klintwall, L., Jahr, E., Karlsson, P. (2012). Outcome for children with autism receiving early and intensive behavioral intervention in mainstream preschool and kindergarten settings. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders 6 (2012) 829–835
● Joslyn, P. R., Donaldson, J. M., Austin, J. L., & Vollmer, T. R. (2019). The good behavior game: A brief review. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 52(3), 811-815.
● Klintwall, L., Eldevik, S., & Eikeseth, S. (2015). Narrowing the gap: Effects of intervention on developmental trajectories in autism. Autism: The International Journal of Research and Practice, 19, 53–63.
● Lovaas, O. I. (1987). Behavioral treatment and normal educational and intellectual functioning in young autistic children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 3–9.
● McEachin, J. J., Smith, T., & Lovaas, O. I. (1993). Long-term outcome for children with autism who received early intensive behavioral treatment. American Journal of Mental Retardation, 97, 359-372.
● Moran, D. J., & Malott, R. W. (Eds.). (2004). Evidence-based educational methods. Elsevier.
● Nicolosi, M., & Dillenburger, K. (2022). The University of California at Los Angeles‐Young Autism Project: A systematic review of replication studies. Behavioral Interventions, 37(2), 415-464.
● White, O. R. (1986). Precision teaching—precision learning. Exceptional children, 52(6), 522-534.
