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Behavior Analysis Association of Michigan
BAAM 2012 Convention
February 23-24, 2012Regular Registration | Student Registration
BAAM 2012 Keynote Speaker
W. David Pierce (U. of Alberta)
"Activity Anorexia*: Participation of Neuroendocrine Responses in Food-Related Contingencies"
What is "activity anorexia?" It is an imbalance between food intake and general activity. More activity can make you less hungry. Decreased food intake can increase your general activity. If you combine the two, and don't have limits on either, you can get caught in a dangerous loop in which you gradually eat less while exercising more. Activity anorexia is the result. Activity anorexia accounts for the majority of anorexia in humans. The phenomenon has been known since the 1960s, but through the efforts of Pierce and his colleagues, it is just now being recognized as a critical element of anorexia treatment in humans.
BAAM 2012 Special Guest Speaker
Stephen T. Higgins (U. of Vermont)
"Financial Incentives for Smoking Cessation Among Pregnant and Newly Postpartum Women"
"Clever Hands"
Verbal behavior buffs, try this in class. It shows the power of immediate verbal stimulus control over delayed control:
In-Class Experiment on Instructional Control & Observer Bias
This experiment is also an excellent demonstration of unconscious cueing or bias. It shows how difficult it is for observers to avoid biasing an outcome despite trying.
Wegner, D.W., Fuller, V.A., & Sparrow, B. (2003). Clever hands: Uncontrolled intelligence in facilitated communication. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 5–19. (PDF)
"Rubber Hands"
Stroke a rubber hand with a laser pointer light. If the fake hand is positioned such that the subject believes it is their own hand, over 60% "feel" the light, mostly where the fake hand is.
Behavior analysts: This is a very nice demonstration of "conditioned feeling." It demonstrates that private sensations are conditioned like other responses. The stimulus control over the response is so strong that the subject actually locates the source of stimulation outside the body, not where the subject's hand actually is, but where the light is!
Durgin, F.H. et al. (2007). Rubber hands feel the touch of light. Psychological Science, 18(2), 152-157 (PDF)
Now available for viewing on mobile web browsers including iPhone and iPod Touch!
Take a look at BAAM's new video series, "Applied Behavior Analysis in Natural Settings." This series of 32 video vignettes shows how ABA is applied in natural settings to promote more effective teaching and generalization of skills.
Designed primarily for parents and new professionals, each video includes a brief descriptive introduction and a detailed explanation of the important elements of each teaching interaction. BAAM has also provided an overview of ABA and glossary of basic behavioral terms to help those new to ABA appreciate the technical details of the presentations. A technical assistance page will guide those few who might not already have a compatible web-browser*. Although these videos are not designed to teach therapeutic techniques, they will provide an appreciation for the range of settings and circumstances in which high-quality ABA teaching can and should occur.
*All videos require a Quicktime compatible viewer or web browser.
All videos and related material are for personal use only. The videos and related materials may not be downloaded, re posted, distributed, collected, or used for any commercial purpose without the expressed written permission of BAAM.
Become a "Virtual Member"
of BAAM
BAAM Science and Practice Watch
Resolutions by other medical, professional, scientific, and support organizations on ineffectiveness of facilitated communication
The Behavior Analysis Association of Michigan has been organized to support and promote scientific research on the basic principles of behavior and the extension of those principles to create demonstrably effective and humane outcome-based therapies with the primary goal of establishing and enhancing functional independent living skills.
"ABA" isn't just "All 'Bout Autism"
It's also "All Behavior Analyzed"
We need to remind those outside our field that ABA is far more than a teacher sitting knee-to-knee with a student endlessly repeating discrete trials.
Vincent Strully, Director of the New England Center for Children
Available for the First Time!
B.F. Skinner's William James Lectures and Columbia University Verbal Behavior course notes by Ralph Hefferline
Skinner's 1948 William James Lectures were his 1957 book Verbal Behavior in draft form. Shared for decades in mimeographed form among a few lucky behavior analysts, this is the first time this classic has been generally available. Ralph Hefferline's 1947 class notes from Skinner's Columbia University course in verbal behavior show even earlier development of the same ideas. These are true classics in the history of psychology, made available through the generosity of the B.F. Skinner Foundation.
Also
available from the Skinner Foundation
a free PDF copy of Skinner's 1953 Science
and Human Behavior.
Michigan Senate Considering
Reintroduced Autism Insurance Bills
Senate Bills
What Happened to the Previous
Michigan Autism Insurance Bills?
In the final hours of 2010 legislative term, Michigan Senate Republican caucus blocked a floor vote on Michigan's autism insurance reform legislation.
The legislation, which had been passed by a large majority in the Michigan House of Representatives, had been stalled in the Senate Committee on Economic Development and Regulatory Reform for 16 months. Despite intense negotiations during the final days of the legislative term, a coalition of Senate Republicans, with backing from the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, Senate Majority Leader Michael Bishop (R), and other groups, refused to move the legislation out of committee to a vote.
Reflecting strong support for the measure among the people of Michigan, indications were good for passage by the full Senate. Thus, a procedural move was the only option left to opponents to prevent the likely passage of the legislation. Had the legislation been headed to defeat, a vote would have been much more likely.
The opposition cited discredited notions of significantly increased insurance costs, negative impacts on Michigan employment, and need for additional study as rationalizations for preventing action on the legislation. However, research by the Centers for Disease Control shows that the cost of long-term care ($3 - $4 million) is much higher than the costs of even the most expensive empirically supported treatments ($30,000-$50,000/year) required for severe cases. Because most cases are not severe, actual treatment costs would generally be lower. The predicted negative consequences on insurance and employment have also not been seen in any of the over 23 states where similar laws have been passed. Neighboring Indiana, which has had autism insurance for almost a decade, has seen better outcomes for children and increased employment opportunities for behavior analysts and other autism professionals.
Senate Bills (Blocked from Vote)
Behavior News Quick
Links
- New York's Gov. Patterson vetoes unanimously passed bill mandating coverage for evidence-based autism treatment.
- BAAM Facilitated Communication Resolution now in Finnish (Suomi).
- Movie critic questions authenticity of communication in unproven method
- ASAT comments on "castration drug" treatment for autism
- Autism/ABA pioneer Ivar Lovaas dies
- Colorado passes autism insurance reform
- Military families sue Defense Department over autism treatment
- FDA warns: OSR#1 chelation drug dangerous
Humorists
take on pseudoscience
BAAM Features
Behavioral
Essentials
James Todd Behaviorism Jim Todd Behaviorism Eastern Michigan University Psychology