Program Chair Allice Shillingsburg has arranged an outstanding program of invited speakers for SEABA 2019!
Title and Abstract Coming Soon
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Mark Bouton, PhD (University of Vermont) Mark E. Bouton, Ph.D., is a University Distinguished Professor and the Lawson Green and Gold Professor of Psychology at the University of Vermont. He has been doing research on the effects of context on conditioning and learning, with an emphasis on behavior change, for over three decades. He has received a number of awards, including the Gantt Medal from the Pavlovian Society and the Quad-L Award from the University of New Mexico, and he is a Fellow of several organizations, including the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, the Society of Experimental Psychologists, and the Eastern Psychological Association, of which he is a past president. He is also the author of a leading textbook on learning and behavior theory [Learning and behavior: A contemporary synthesis (2nd ed.)], published in 2016 by Sinauer Associates, an imprint of Oxford University Press. |
Contextual control of behavior change
Recent research in the animal laboratory has studied how operant behavior is influenced by the context in which it occurs. Contexts can have many effects, but they are especially important during and after behavior change; for example, when a behavior has been suppressed by extinction, punishment, or omission training, it can recover or relapse when the context is changed. Moreover, there are many kinds of “contexts:” In addition to physical background cues, drug state, and time, recent experiments have established a contextual role for hunger and satiety states, stress state, recent reinforcers (as in reinstatement and resurgence), and preceding behaviors in a behavior chain. Other work has explored the role of context in influencing goal-directed actions and habits. The findings have implications for understanding lapse and relapse and for promoting more lasting forms of behavior change.
Recent research in the animal laboratory has studied how operant behavior is influenced by the context in which it occurs. Contexts can have many effects, but they are especially important during and after behavior change; for example, when a behavior has been suppressed by extinction, punishment, or omission training, it can recover or relapse when the context is changed. Moreover, there are many kinds of “contexts:” In addition to physical background cues, drug state, and time, recent experiments have established a contextual role for hunger and satiety states, stress state, recent reinforcers (as in reinstatement and resurgence), and preceding behaviors in a behavior chain. Other work has explored the role of context in influencing goal-directed actions and habits. The findings have implications for understanding lapse and relapse and for promoting more lasting forms of behavior change.
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Tom Cariveau, PhD (University of North Carolina - Wilmington)
Tom Cariveau received his doctoral degree in school psychology from the University of Oregon and completed a predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship at the Marcus Autism Center. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and Director of the Early Skill Acquisition Program at the Center for Pediatric Behavioral Health. He is a board certified behavior analyst and licensed psychologist in North Carolina. His work has been published in a variety of outlets including the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Behavior Modification, The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, and Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Dr. Cariveau’s interests are in methods to increase the efficiency of skill acquisition programming for individuals with developmental disabilities, training in behavior analysis, and social behavior. |
Excited About Errors: The Right Response When the Organism is Never Wrong
Errors and misbehavior are defined by the experimenter. Identifying the variables controlling erred responses are critical to correcting them. Errors have played a significant role in behavior analysis, as any other field; yet behavior analysts may have benefited considerably from the belief that “… the organism is always right” (Skinner, 1977, p. 1007). The resulting focus on how to arrange the environment to evoke the defined correct response is critical to the effectiveness of behavior analytic interventions. Nevertheless, errors may not always be problematic. When this is the case, behavior analysts should consider Skinner’s (1956) first unformalized principle of scientific practice: “… when you run into something interesting, drop everything else and study it” (p. 223). Entire careers are formed by this unformalized principle: when the utility of the error likely exceeds the utility of the correct, or predicted, response. The current presentation will describe how behavior analysis has, and must continue to, identify the conditions under which errors occur to hopefully make even better errors in the future. In addition, recent work on error-correction procedures in applied interventions for children with developmental disabilities will be presented as an example of Skinner’s first unformalized principle of scientific practice.
Errors and misbehavior are defined by the experimenter. Identifying the variables controlling erred responses are critical to correcting them. Errors have played a significant role in behavior analysis, as any other field; yet behavior analysts may have benefited considerably from the belief that “… the organism is always right” (Skinner, 1977, p. 1007). The resulting focus on how to arrange the environment to evoke the defined correct response is critical to the effectiveness of behavior analytic interventions. Nevertheless, errors may not always be problematic. When this is the case, behavior analysts should consider Skinner’s (1956) first unformalized principle of scientific practice: “… when you run into something interesting, drop everything else and study it” (p. 223). Entire careers are formed by this unformalized principle: when the utility of the error likely exceeds the utility of the correct, or predicted, response. The current presentation will describe how behavior analysis has, and must continue to, identify the conditions under which errors occur to hopefully make even better errors in the future. In addition, recent work on error-correction procedures in applied interventions for children with developmental disabilities will be presented as an example of Skinner’s first unformalized principle of scientific practice.
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Greg Fabiano, PhD (State University of New York at Buffalo)
Gregory A. Fabiano, Ph.D. is a professor of Counseling, School, and Educational Psychology, and Associate Dean of Interdisciplinary Research in the Graduate School of Education at the University at Buffalo. He is fellow of the American Psychological Association Division 16. His interests are in the area of evidence-based assessments and treatments for children with ADHD. He is author or co-author on over 100 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters and he has written two books on effective school-based interventions. Dr. Fabiano’s work has been funded by the Administration for Children and Families, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, industry partners, and the Department of Education. In 2007 Dr. Fabiano was nominated by the Department of Education and invited to the White House to receive the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the nation’s highest honor for early career investigators. |
Increasing the reach and effectiveness of evidence-based, behavioral treatments for children and youth with ADHD
Evidence-based treatments for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder include behavioral intervention strategies that reduce functional impairments and build skills. As the field has evolved from identifying treatment strategies that work, to ensuring the effective implementation of these strategies, the next generation of studies need to focus on how to engage children, parents, and educators in these effective interventions. A program of research that refines and evaluates modifications to evidence-based, behavioral interventions for ADHD (e.g., behavioral parent training, classroom contingency management) in settings of interest will be introduced. Exemplars of this approach across settings and developmental levels for children and youth with ADHD will be reviewed. Future research directions that follow from the lessons learned in this program of research will be discussed.
Evidence-based treatments for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder include behavioral intervention strategies that reduce functional impairments and build skills. As the field has evolved from identifying treatment strategies that work, to ensuring the effective implementation of these strategies, the next generation of studies need to focus on how to engage children, parents, and educators in these effective interventions. A program of research that refines and evaluates modifications to evidence-based, behavioral interventions for ADHD (e.g., behavioral parent training, classroom contingency management) in settings of interest will be introduced. Exemplars of this approach across settings and developmental levels for children and youth with ADHD will be reviewed. Future research directions that follow from the lessons learned in this program of research will be discussed.
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Shannon Gourley, PhD (Emory University)
Dr. Gourley is an Associate Professor at Emory University. Her team utilizes appetitive conditioning and other behavioral approaches, high-resolution microscopy, viral-mediated gene transfer, and pharmacological strategies to better understand why adolescence serves as a vulnerability period for depression and addiction. They focus in particular on how cytoskeletal plasticity and so-called “vulnerability genes” impact complex decision-making and disease burden using malleable model organisms. |
The past predicts the future: Understanding how early-life adversities affect action-outcome decision-making later in life
Cortical development during adolescence involves the pruning and stabilization of dendritic spines, the primary sites of excitatory plasticity in the brain. This dynamic process may create a window of vulnerability to stressors, drugs of abuse, or other adversities, culminating in long-term decision-making biases that contribute to drug misuse, addiction, and obesity liability later in life. I will discuss evidence that stress hormones, social isolation, and cocaine have common consequences in adolescent mice: 1) disrupting dendritic spine maturation in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and 2) impeding action-outcome decision-making in adulthood. I will provide evidence that dendritic spine stability in the OFC and the strength of action-outcome conditioning are causally related. I will argue that these dendritic spines create a landscape for inputs to the OFC, for example from the basolateral amygdala, that are essential to action-outcome conditioning.
Cortical development during adolescence involves the pruning and stabilization of dendritic spines, the primary sites of excitatory plasticity in the brain. This dynamic process may create a window of vulnerability to stressors, drugs of abuse, or other adversities, culminating in long-term decision-making biases that contribute to drug misuse, addiction, and obesity liability later in life. I will discuss evidence that stress hormones, social isolation, and cocaine have common consequences in adolescent mice: 1) disrupting dendritic spine maturation in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and 2) impeding action-outcome decision-making in adulthood. I will provide evidence that dendritic spine stability in the OFC and the strength of action-outcome conditioning are causally related. I will argue that these dendritic spines create a landscape for inputs to the OFC, for example from the basolateral amygdala, that are essential to action-outcome conditioning.
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Mike Kelley, PhD (Florida Institute of Technology)
Michael E. Kelley, Ph.D., BCBA-D graduated from Louisiana State University in 2003 with a degree in School Psychology. Dr. Kelley was the 2010 recipient of the American Psychological Association’s Division 25 B. F. Skinner New Researcher Award and served as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis from 2009-2012 and on the Board of Editors for the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior from 2013-2016. He is also a current member of the Board of Directors for the Society of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. Dr. Kelley is a licensed psychologist and has conducted research in the areas of severe problem behavior, feeding disorders, translational research, and autism. |
Incorporating basic and translational research into practice
Basic research often seeks clarification about fundamental principles of behavior. Translational research seeks to bridge the gap between basic research and ultimate application. Clinicians – and thus applied researchers – seek improvements in technologies for solving problems of social significance. In this presentation, I will discuss the benefits of incorporating basic and translational research into practice, and present data that support the continued collaborations between the basic and applied sectors of Behavior Analysis.
Basic research often seeks clarification about fundamental principles of behavior. Translational research seeks to bridge the gap between basic research and ultimate application. Clinicians – and thus applied researchers – seek improvements in technologies for solving problems of social significance. In this presentation, I will discuss the benefits of incorporating basic and translational research into practice, and present data that support the continued collaborations between the basic and applied sectors of Behavior Analysis.
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Suzanne Mitchell, PhD (Oregon Health and Science University)
Suzanne H. Mitchell, Ph.D., is a Professor at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) in the Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, with secondary appointments in Psychiatry and in the Oregon Institute for Occupational health Science. She obtained her B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees at the University of Hull, England and her Ph.D. at SUNY-Stony Brook, USA. Her dissertation focused on the economics of foraging behavior of rats. During a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Chicago, Dr. Mitchell worked with Harriet de Wit, Ph.D. using behavioral economics as an explanation for use of alcohol, nicotine/cigarettes, and amphetamine in humans. During that time she also began collaborating with Jerry Richards, Ph.D. on delay discounting studies with rats. Following her postdoctoral work, Dr. Mitchell was an assistant professor at the University of New Hampshire, before moving her lab to OHSU in 2001. Her research focuses on examining recreational drug use using behavioral economic models in humans and rodents, as well as examining the genetic and biological bases of impulsive choice behavior. Most recently she has returned to her earlier interests in energetic costs and her research has increased its scope to include effort-related decision-making in clinical populations. She has received funding from various NIH institutes (NHLBI, NIAAA, NIDA and NIH), has served on several study sections as a member and as an ad hoc participant, and has received awards for education and mentoring. |
Why is delay discounting associated with substance use and other psychopathologies? Experimental strategies and initial discoveries.
Heightened delay discounting, that is, increased choice of the smaller-sooner reinforcer over a larger-later reinforcer, is associated with substance use disorders, pathological gambling, conduct disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, as well as other psychopathologies. Research in my lab takes several approaches to understanding mechanisms underlying the association between delay discounting and substance use. These approaches include identifying shared neurobiological substrates, shared genes, and any common behavioral phenotypes that link delay discounting and substance use. This presentation will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches, summarize findings from our studies with humans and rodents, and suggest direction for future research.
Heightened delay discounting, that is, increased choice of the smaller-sooner reinforcer over a larger-later reinforcer, is associated with substance use disorders, pathological gambling, conduct disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, as well as other psychopathologies. Research in my lab takes several approaches to understanding mechanisms underlying the association between delay discounting and substance use. These approaches include identifying shared neurobiological substrates, shared genes, and any common behavioral phenotypes that link delay discounting and substance use. This presentation will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches, summarize findings from our studies with humans and rodents, and suggest direction for future research.
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Bethany Raiff, PhD (Rowan University)
Dr. Raiff received her PhD in Psychology, with an emphasis in Behavioral Pharmacology, from University of Florida. Next she worked as a Principal Investigator at the National Development and Research Institutes, Inc. before moving to the Department of Psychology at Rowan University where she is currently an Associate Professor. Dr. Raiff's primary research interests include developing and evaluating the integration of technological innovations with behavioral interventions for promoting healthy behavior. Dr. Raiff received two NIH grants to develop video games, one for Facebook and another for smartphones, which use a contingency management intervention with nonmonetary incentives to encourage people to quit smoking. In addition to her work on smoking cessation, Dr. Raiff received another NIH grant to evaluate an Internet-based monitoring system to improve adherence with blood glucose testing among non-adherent teens diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Dr. Raiff was the 2015 recipient of the B. F. Skinner New Researcher Award for Applied Research, from Division 25 of the American Psychological Association, she is a Guest Associate Editor for the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, and she is on the editorial board for the journal Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology. |
Leveraging Technology to Promote Healthy Behavior
Contingency management (CM) interventions, which involve delivering desirable consequences contingent on objective evidence of health behavior, have been widely studied and shown to be effective at initiating a number of different health behaviors, such as cocaine and smoking abstinence, as well as diabetes management. Unfortunately, a number of barriers exist that prevent the widespread adoption and dissemination of CM, including accessibility, convenience, cost, and sustainability. To address some of these concerns, we developed an Internet and Mobile phone-based contingency management intervention, where participants earn monetary incentives contingent on web-camera verified evidence of smoking abstinence. Not only has this CM intervention been effective at initiating smoking abstinence, participants have also rated the intervention favorably on a number of dimensions. We have also successfully extended the Internet-based CM procedure to a novel populations and target behavior; namely, teenagers diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes who are not adhering with their blood glucose testing recommendations. To overcome additional barriers to Internet-based CM, such as the cost of incentives and long-term sustainability, we are currently evaluating a videogame-based CM intervention. Smokers can earn game-based resources, or access to special features in the game, in place of monetary incentives. Videogame-based CM has the potential to promote widespread access to an innovative, fun, sustainable intervention at a relatively low cost, thereby offering the potential to make a substantial public health impact.
Contingency management (CM) interventions, which involve delivering desirable consequences contingent on objective evidence of health behavior, have been widely studied and shown to be effective at initiating a number of different health behaviors, such as cocaine and smoking abstinence, as well as diabetes management. Unfortunately, a number of barriers exist that prevent the widespread adoption and dissemination of CM, including accessibility, convenience, cost, and sustainability. To address some of these concerns, we developed an Internet and Mobile phone-based contingency management intervention, where participants earn monetary incentives contingent on web-camera verified evidence of smoking abstinence. Not only has this CM intervention been effective at initiating smoking abstinence, participants have also rated the intervention favorably on a number of dimensions. We have also successfully extended the Internet-based CM procedure to a novel populations and target behavior; namely, teenagers diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes who are not adhering with their blood glucose testing recommendations. To overcome additional barriers to Internet-based CM, such as the cost of incentives and long-term sustainability, we are currently evaluating a videogame-based CM intervention. Smokers can earn game-based resources, or access to special features in the game, in place of monetary incentives. Videogame-based CM has the potential to promote widespread access to an innovative, fun, sustainable intervention at a relatively low cost, thereby offering the potential to make a substantial public health impact.
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Larry Young, PhD (Emory University)
Dr. Larry J. Young, PhD is Director of the Silvio O. Conte Center for Oxytocin and Social Cognition and is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Emory University School of Medicine. He is also chief of the Division of Behavioral Neuroscience and Psychiatric Disorders at Yerkes National Primate Research Center. Dr. Young has published over 200 peer reviewed publications, including in premier journals such as Science, and Nature. Dr. Young earned his B.S. in Biochemistry at the University of Georgia, and earned his PhD from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Young joined the Emory faculty in 1996. Dr. Young has received several awards for his academic achievements including the Golden Brain Award, the Frank Beach Award, the Daniel H. Efron Award from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, and has been elected as Fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Young’s research seeks to understand how the brain functions to regulate social relationships. His research has revealed that brain chemicals such as oxytocin and vasopressin regulate the neural processing of social information and promote the formation of social bonds by acting in specific neural pathways. Much of his research uses socially monogamous prairie voles as a model organism. His work is providing insights into novel treatments for social disorders such as autism. Dr. Young is the author of The Chemistry Between Us: Love, Sex, and the Science of Attraction, which explores the latest discoveries of how brain chemistry influences all aspects of our relationships with others. |
Neurobiology of Social Attachment, Empathy and Social Loss: Implications for Autism
This lecture will present current theories of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying social attachment (e.g. pair bonding), empathy, and the consequences of social loss based on studies in monogamous prairie voles. Oxytocin receptor (OXTR) signaling coordinates neural activity in a social salience network to link the neural encoding of partner cues with the rewarding aspects of social affiliation. Diversity in expression patterns of OXTR in the brain contribute to diversity in social behaviors across and within species. The effects of early social neglect on adult social relationships will be discussed. Bonded prairie voles display empathy-like consoling behavior toward their partner when they are distressed. This consoling response is abolished by blocking OXTR in the anterior cingulate cortex, a region involved in human empathy. Loss of a bonded partner results in the development of depressive-like “grieving” behavior, which is alleviated by oxytocin replacement. Studies in humans suggest that the role of oxytocin on social relationships are conserved from rodents to man. The implications of oxytocin on potential therapies for improving social functioning in psychiatric disorders such as autism will be discussed.
This lecture will present current theories of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying social attachment (e.g. pair bonding), empathy, and the consequences of social loss based on studies in monogamous prairie voles. Oxytocin receptor (OXTR) signaling coordinates neural activity in a social salience network to link the neural encoding of partner cues with the rewarding aspects of social affiliation. Diversity in expression patterns of OXTR in the brain contribute to diversity in social behaviors across and within species. The effects of early social neglect on adult social relationships will be discussed. Bonded prairie voles display empathy-like consoling behavior toward their partner when they are distressed. This consoling response is abolished by blocking OXTR in the anterior cingulate cortex, a region involved in human empathy. Loss of a bonded partner results in the development of depressive-like “grieving” behavior, which is alleviated by oxytocin replacement. Studies in humans suggest that the role of oxytocin on social relationships are conserved from rodents to man. The implications of oxytocin on potential therapies for improving social functioning in psychiatric disorders such as autism will be discussed.
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