August 2025 Preview

In a world where individuals with mental health needs are struggling, could acceptance and commitment training be the answer? We chat with Dr. Adam Hahs to learn all about this third-wave behavior therapy, its procedure, the research, and exactly how the phrase “milk, milk, milk” could help parents with autism. Articles discussed this episode: Harris, R. (2006). Embracing your demons: an Overview of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Psychotherapy in Australia, 12, 2-8. Gould, E.R., Tarbox, J., & Coyne, L. (2018). Evaluating the effects of Acceptance and Commitment Training on the overt behavior of parents of children with autism. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 7, 81-88. doi: 10.1016/j.jcbs.2017.06.003 Hahs, A.D., Dixon, M.R., & Paliliunas, D. (in press). Randomized controlled trial of a brief acceptance and commitment training for parents of individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science. doi: 10.1016/j.jcbs.2018.03.002 If you're interested in ordering CEs for listening to this episode, click here to go to the store page. You'll need to enter your name, BCBA #, and the two episode secret code words to complete the purchase. Email us at abainsidetrack@gmail.com for further assistance.

13 Helmi 20191h 15min

While it might be the shortest month of the year, ABA Inside Track is running long on exciting content. Switching up our preview format a bit, we’re here to tell you everything coming up in the ENTIRE MONTH! That’s right: Three full-length episodes in a row! We’ll be talking about acceptance and commitment training with our special guest, Dr. Adam Hahs, before discussing two outside-of-the-box topics with gamification and public speaking. Rob’s hours of editing behavior analytic journal review is your gain! Also, if you’re looking for a fun conference in leadership, tickets are now available for the Behavior Analyst Leadership Conference (BALC), coming to Connecticut at the end of March! *Note: Due to a camera SNAFU, we’re audio only this month. We’ll have our video back up for the next preview. Sorry about that! Articles for February 2019: Acceptance and Commitment Training Harris, R. (2006). Embracing your demons: an Overview of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Psychotherapy in Australia, 12, 2-8. Gould, E.R., Tarbox, J., & Coyne, L. (2018). Evaluating the effects of Acceptance and Commitment Training on the overt behavior of parents of children with autism. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 7, 81-88. doi: 10.1016/j.jcbs.2017.06.003 Hahs, A.D., Dixon, M.R., & Paliliunas, D. (in press). Randomized controlled trial of a brief acceptance and commitment training for parents of individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science. doi: 10.1016/j.jcbs.2018.03.002 Gamification Morford, Z.H., Witts, B.N., Killingsworth, K.J., & Alavosius, M.P. (2014). Gamification: The intersection between behavior analysis and game design technologies. The Behavior Analyst, 37, 25-40. doi: 10.1007/s40614-014-0006-1 Sailer, M., Hense, J.U., Mayr, S.K., & Mandi, H. (2017). How gamification motivates: An experimental study of the effects of specific game design elements on psychological need satisfaction. Computers in Human Behavior, 69, 371-380. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2016.12.033 Hamari, J., Koivisto, & Sarsa, H. (2014). Does Gamification Work? A literature review of empirical studies on gamification. Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences. doi: 10.1109/HICSS.2014.377 Fogel, V.A., Miltenberger, R.G., Graves, R., & Koehler, S. (2010). The effects of exergaming on physical activity among inactive children in a physical education classroom. Journal of Applied Behavior Anlaysis, 43, 591-600. doi: 10.1901/jaba.2010.43-591 Public Speaking Friman, P.C. (2014). Behavior analysts to the front! A 15-step tutorial on public speaking. The Behavior Analyst, 37, 109-118. doi: 10.1007/s40614-014-0009-y Fawcett, S.B. & Miller, L.K. (1975). Training public-speaking behavior: An experimental analysis and social validation. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 8, 125-135. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1975.8-125 Black, E.L. & Martin. G.L. (1980). A component analysis of public-speaking behaviors across individuals and behavioral categories. Communication Education, 29, 273-282. doi: 10.1080/03634528009378425

6 Helmi 201923min

It’s a belated birthday episode for Diana! In her honor we’re talking about joint attention, one of the primary deficits noted in most children with autism. This week we discuss what joint attention is, which treatments are effective for improving responses and initiation to joint attention, and how a trip to Uncle Moe’s Family Feedbag might be the ideal environment to master the skill. Happy birthday, Diana! Articles discussed this episode: Taylor, B.A. & Hoch, H. (2008). Teaching children with autism to respond to and initiate bids for joint attention. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 41, 377-391. doi: 10.1901/jaba.2008.41-377 Klein, J.L., MacDonald, R.F.P, Vaillancourt, G., Ahearn, W.H., & Dube, W.V. (2009). Teaching discrimination of adult gaze direction to children with autism. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorder, 3, 42-49. doi: 10.1016/j.rasd.2008.03.006 Isaksen, J. & Holth, P. (2009). An operant approach to teaching joint attention skills to children with autism. Behavioral Interventions, 24, 215-236. doi: 10.1002/bin.292 If you're interested in ordering CEs for listening to this episode, click here to go to the store page. You'll need to enter your name, BCBA #, and the two episode secret code words to complete the purchase. Email us at abainsidetrack@gmail.com for further assistance.

30 Tammi 20191h 19min

While Diana deals with a diaper change, Rob and Jackie enjoy some time together talking about joint attention in this week’s preview. After a quick update on some great journal articles to read for next week’s episode, we jump into errata featuring some emails and a reminder to get your tickets to the Behavior Analyst Leadership Council Conference on March 28-29. Articles for next episode: Taylor, B.A. & Hoch, H. (2008). Teaching children with autism to respond to and initiate bids for joint attention. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 41, 377-391. doi: 10.1901/jaba.2008.41-377 Klein, J.L., MacDonald, R.F.P, Vaillancourt, G., Ahearn, W.H., & Dube, W.V. (2009). Teaching discrimination of adult gaze direction to children with autism. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorder, 3, 42-49. doi: 10.1016/j.rasd.2008.03.006 Isaksen, J. & Holth, P. (2009). An operant approach to teaching joint attention skills to children with autism. Behavioral Interventions, 24, 215-236. doi: 10.1002/bin.292

23 Tammi 20198min

Treating chronic absenteeism and school-refusal behavior is a growing need in many parts of the world. Heck, we even did a whole episode on it! Luckily, we have dedicated psychologists like Dr. Christopher Kearney working to meet these challenges through research and writings for professionals and for parents. Dr. Kearney joins Rob on the show this week to talk about his original research in developing the School-Refusal Assessment Scale and to troubleshoot some tough school-refusal scenarios. Interested in learning more about school-refusal behavior? Check out ABA Inside Track Episode 58 for a nice overview of some of Dr. Kearney’s research. Then head on over to Amazon to pick up one of Dr. Kearney’s books including Rob’s favorite summer read, “Helping School Refusing Children and Their Parents”.

16 Tammi 201945min

So, you learned a new skill. That’s great! But can you use that skill over here? How about here? What about with these items? If you said no, perhaps you’d be interested in hearing all about general-case analysis, a nifty classic technique that provides all the handy-dandy steps you need to promote amazing response generalization. Plus, we remember that cigarette machines used to be a thing. Articles discussed this episode: Chadsey-Rusch, J., Drasgow, E., Reinoehl, B., Halle, J., & Collet-Klingenberg, L. (1993). Using general-case instruction to teach spontaneous and generalized requests for assistance to learners with severe disabilities. Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 18, 177-187. doi:10.1177/154079699301800304 Sprague, J.R. & Horner, R.H. (1984). The effects of single instance, multiple instance, and general case training on generalized vending machine use by moderately and severely handicapped students. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 17, 273-278. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1984.17-273 If you're interested in ordering CEs for listening to this episode, click here to go to the store page. You'll need to enter your name, BCBA #, and the two episode secret code words to complete the purchase. Email us at abainsidetrack@gmail.com for further assistance.

9 Tammi 20191h 13min

Ever want to train an individual in a new skill but don’t know how the heck you’re going to be able to promote its generalization? And do you think there’s enough time to train on every possible combination of stimuli? There’s got to be a better way!! And next week, we’ll be talking all about that way: General-case instruction. But first, errata and a reminder about a FREE CEU for listening to episode 69. Articles for next episode: Chadsey-Rusch, J., Drasgow, E., Reinoehl, B., Halle, J., & Collet-Klingenberg, L. (1993). Using general-case instruction to teach spontaneous and generalized requests for assistance to learners with severe disabilities. Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 18, 177-187. doi:10.1177/154079699301800304 Sprague, J.R. & Horner, R.H. (1984). The effects of single instance, multiple instance, and general case training on generalized vending machine use by moderately and severely handicapped students. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 17, 273-278. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1984.17-273

2 Tammi 201915min

As 2018 draws to a close, we gather round together with our pal Matt Cicoria from the Behavioral Observations podcast to discuss what’s been going down with applied behavior analysis in the past 365 days. We talk losses, changes, and where we think 2019 will take us as a field. Happy Holidays, everyone!

26 Joulu 20181h 8min