600

Teaching new behaviors first requires assessment of a learner’s pre-requisite skills and other relevant environmental variables followed by the systematic design of instructional programs and evaluation of learning outcomes. In this course, students learn how to assess an individual’s current repertoire, conduct reinforcer and preference assessments, and design behavior-analytic instructional programs for purposes of teaching new behaviors.

In order to effectively treat problematic behaviors, behavior analysts must first assess the environmental variables to determine the function of the problematic behavior. In this course, students learn how to conduct functional behavior assessments and design comprehensive function-based behavior reduction programs in order to produce socially significant changes in behavior.

In addition to direct client-facing clinical work, behavior analysts are tasked with the training and supervision of others in the implementation of behavior analytic programming. In this course, students learn how to assess performance deficits, how to design behavior-analytic training programs, and how to supervise others in accordance with best practices and ethical guidelines.

This course provides an in-depth study of a special topic in applied behavior analysis not fully covered in one of the other program courses. Topics offered may be chosen based on professional and/or research interests of students and faculty, special faculty expertise, or areas of current debate and emerging interest in the field. This course may be taken for credit multiple times, provided that different topics are covered in each course.