This year's CalABA conference will feature a number of invited addresses and workshops by renowned speakers.

(More info. will be posted as details become available.)

From all over the US and Canada we will be welcoming:
James Carr (PEL, VB) Philip Chase (ED) Jane Fisher (HDG) Rebecca MacDonald (AUT) Garry Martin (OTH) Heather McGee (OBM)	Matthew Normand (CM) Meeta Patel (DD) Ruth Anne Rehfeldt (VB) David Schaal (EXP) Henry Schlinger (TCP)

Autism (AUT)    (top)

Rebecca MacDonald, PhD, BCBA-D · The New England Center for Children

Address: Assessment and Treatment of Joint Attention in Children with Autism   (abstract)

Workshop: Teaching Children with Autism Using Video Modeling   (abstract)

Dr. MacDonald is a Licensed Psychologist in Massachusetts and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst who serves as the Director of Intensive Instructional Early Childhood Autism Program at the New England Center for Children. She is an Adjunct Professor at Northeastern University, Western New England University and in the Special Education Department at Simmons College. Rebecca received her doctorate in Developmental and Child Psychology from the University of Kansas in 1983. Dr. MacDonald began at The New England Center for Children as the Clinical Director in 1983. She then taught for three years in the Graduate School of Education at Simmons College in Boston (1992-1995). In 1995 she returned to the New England Center for Children in her current position. Rebecca has presented her research at numerous conferences over the past twenty years and published studies that have appeared in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Education and Treatment for Children, Research in Developmental Disabilities, and Behavioral Interventions. In addition, she has authored a number of book chapters and developed a web-based curriculum for teaching play to children with autism using video modeling. She has been the recipient of both federal and private grants to support her research, including the Organization for Autism Research and the National Institute of Health. Dr. MacDonald’s research interests currently include; assessing and teaching joint attention, teaching play and social reciprocity to children with autism using video modeling, and measuring clinical outcomes of early intensive behavior intervention.

Clinical/Medical (CM)    (top)

Matthew Normand, PhD, BCBA-D · University of the Pacific
Behavior Analysis and Obesity: Battling the Bulge   (abstract)

Dr. Normand received his B.A. in Psychology from Western New England College, his M.A. in Behavior Analysis from Western Michigan University, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Cognitive and Behavioral Sciences from the Florida State University. He is an Associate Professor and the Director of Graduate Studies in the department of psychology at the University of the Pacific and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. At Pacific, his primary responsibilities are teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in behavior analysis and supervising behavior analysis research and practicum work.

His primary scientific interests, broadly defined, are the application of basic behavioral principles to problems of social significance (including obesity and community health issues), verbal behavior, and the philosophy of science. He has authored more than two-dozen scientific papers and book chapters and over 80 conference presentations. He is an associate editor for the journals The Behavior Analyst and The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, is a former Associate Editor for the journal Behavior Analysis in Practice, and serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and Behavioral Interventions. Dr. Normand is the 2011 recipient of the B. F. Skinner New Researcher Award from the American Psychological Association (Div. 25).

Developmental Disabilities (DD)    (top)

Meeta Patel, PhD, BCBA-D · Clinic 4 Kidz
Assessment and Treatment of Pediatric Feeding Disorders:
A Home-based Approach   (abstract)

Dr. Patel has been working with children with autism and other disabilities for over 17 years. She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. She received a BS degree from the University of California at Davis in 1996 in Psychobiology. She continued her graduate training in Psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno and received her Ph.D. in Psychology under the supervision of James Carr, Patrick Ghezzi, and Sidney Bijou in 2000. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 2001 under the supervision of Cathleen Piazza.

Dr. Patel joined the faculty at the Marcus and Kennedy Krieger Institutes in 2001 and Emory University School of Medicine in 2002 and was a case manager in the Pediatric Feeding Disorders and Early Intervention Programs at the Marcus and Kennedy Krieger Institutes from 2001-2003. Dr. Patel founded Clinic 4 Kidz in 2003 and currently serves as the Executive Director. Dr. Patel is currently on the editorial board for the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and was formally on the editorial board for Education and Treatment of Children. Her primary research interests are in the area of pediatric feeding disorders. In addition, she is devoted to conducting research to better train parents to work with their children in the home environment. Dr. Patel's research focuses on developing appropriate treatments to increase oral intake and decrease tube dependency. In addition, she is conducting research that focuses on the long-term success of children with pediatric feeding disorders. Dr. Patel also has an interest in treating children with autism who display food selectivity.

Education (ED)    (top)

Philip Chase, PhD · Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies
Accreditation of Human Service Programs Based on Applied Behavior Analysis   (abstract)

Dr. Chase holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and is currently serving as the Executive Director of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies. Previously, as Professor of Psychology in the Behavior Analysis Program at West Virginia University he specialized in studying environmental variables that influence novel behavior. This interest led to two lines of research: understanding basic processes affecting verbal behavior and applying these basic processes to the design of teaching procedures that facilitate problem solving. Dr. Chase has published over eighty articles, chapters, and books. He has served on the editorial boards of many behavioral journals, including editing The Behavior Analyst from 1999-2001. He also has reviewed grants for four national agencies and is currently a Content Expert for ERIC, the search engine for the U.S. Department of Education. Dr. Chase also has been active in international efforts in behavior analysis. He completed a Fulbright Research Scholarship at the University of Palermo, Sicily, helped organize four scientific conferences, and served as a visiting scholar at both Reykjavik University in Iceland and IULM University in Milan, Italy. Dr. Chase has consulted with a range of public and private sector organizations, including evaluating an Internet-based introductory reading curriculum, Headsprout.com, evaluating an Internet-based middle school math curriculum, iLearn.com, and collaborating with the Department of Mathematics at WVU on curricula for teaching quantitative skills.

Experimental (EXP)    (top)

David Schaal, PhD · Accuray
Functional Relations, Neuroscience and Behavior Analysis    (abstract)

Dr. Schaal discovered behaviorism as a student at St. Cloud State University, where he also learned to program a computer and do pigeon experiments. He was accepted into the EAB program at the University of Florida, where he learned to think a little and picked up a good trade (Behavioral Pharmacology) from Dr. Marc Branch, one that would result in a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Minnesota under Dr. Travis Thompson. There he was encouraged to consider how genetic and biological variables contribute to normal and aberrant behavior. Dave joined the Psychology faculty of West Virginia University, where thanks to his colleagues and students he was a reasonably successful researcher and teacher. For some reason he moved to the Department of Neurosurgery at Stanford University in 2002, where some of his ideas about biological variables became useful to him. Dave helped Drs. Timberlake and Steinmetz edit a special issue of JEAB devoted to Behavioral Neuroscience, and he got to serve as Editor for Behavioral Neuroscience for JEAB for a few years. A biomedical device company offered him a job in 2006, so he left academia and now he writes about radiosurgery. Today the great blessings of his life include his loving wife and family, and his love of music and fiction.

Human Development & Gerontology (HDG)    (top)

Jane Fisher, PhD · University of Nevada, Reno
Promoting Quality of Life in Elderly Persons with Dementia   (abstract)

Dr. Fisher is Professor of Psychology and former Director of Clinical Training at the University of Nevada, Reno. She earned a BS from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a PhD in clinical psychology from Indiana University, Bloomington. Her research interests include aging and behavioral health; applied behavior analysis; and the integration of evidence based behavioral healthcare in primary and long term care settings.

Organizational Behavior Management (OBM)    (top)

Heather McGee, PhD · Western Michigan University
Understanding Organizations: A Behavioral Systems Approach to Analysis and Alignment
(abstract)

Dr. McGee is an Assistant Professor of Psychology and a member of the industrial/organizational faculty at Western Michigan University (WMU). She received her B.S. (1998), M.A. (2003), and Ph.D. (2004) from WMU. Her interests lie in improving organizational performance through interventions based on comprehensive behavioral systems analysis. Dr. McGee is also a co-founder of, and performance consultant with, Performance Blueprints, a performance improvement consulting firm specializing in helping small businesses, non-profits, and human service settings by providing a variety of consulting and training services. Dr. McGee has designed, developed and implemented organizational performance solutions in a variety of industries and settings, including autism service providers, the pharmaceutical industry, education, and health and human services industries. These solutions have included performance-based instruction, performance management, behavioral systems changes, and lean sigma initiatives. Additionally, Dr. McGee is the Executive Director of the Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) Network and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management (JOBM).

Professional, Ethical, & Legal Issues (PEL)    (top)

James Carr, PhD, BCBA-D · Behavior Analyst Certification Board
The Behavior Analyst Certification Board: Recent Developments   (abstract)

Dr. Carr is the Chief Executive Officer of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board. His interests include the behavioral treatment of autism spectrum disorders and intellectual disabilities, verbal behavior, and practitioner training. He is currently an associate editor of the journals Behavior Analysis in Practice, The Behavior Analyst, and The Analysis of Verbal Behavior and is a past associate editor of Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. He received his Ph.D. in 1996 from Florida State University and previously served on the behavior analysis faculties at University of Nevada-Reno (1996-1999), Western Michigan University (1999-2008), and Auburn University (2008-2011).

Theoretical, Conceptual, & Philosophical Issues (TCP)    (top)

Henry (Hank) Schlinger, PhD, BCBA-D · California State University, Los Angeles
Does ABA Stand For Autism and Behavior Analysis?   (abstract)

Dr. Schlinger received his Ph.D. in Psychology (Applied Behavior Analysis) from Western Michigan University (WMU) with Jack Michael and then completed a two-year NIH-funded post-doctoral fellowship in behavioral pharmacology also at WMU with Alan Poling. He was a full tenured professor of psychology at Western New England University in Springfield, Massachusetts, before moving to Los Angeles in 1998. He is now Associate Professor of Psychology and director of the M.S. Program in Applied Behavior Analysis at California State University, Los Angeles. Dr. Schlinger has published more than 50 scholarly articles and commentaries in more than 20 different journals. In addition, he has authored or co-authored three books, Psychology: A Behavioral Overview (1990), A Behavior-Analytic View of Child Development (1995) (which was translated into Japanese), and Introduction to Scientific Psychology (1998). He is currently Editor of The Behavior Analyst, a past Editor of The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, and is on the editorial boards of several other journals. He lives with his wife, a writer and editor, and 17-month-old son in the quiet, serene hills of Burbank, California.

Meet Dr. Schlinger at his book signing on Thursday!

Verbal Behavior (VB)    (top)

James Carr, PhD, BCBA-D · Behavior Analyst Certification Board
The Role of Problem Solving in Teaching Complex Verbal Repertoires   (abstract)

Dr. Carr is the Chief Executive Officer of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board. His interests include the behavioral treatment of autism spectrum disorders and intellectual disabilities, verbal behavior, and practitioner training. He is currently an associate editor of the journals Behavior Analysis in Practice, The Behavior Analyst, and The Analysis of Verbal Behavior and is a past associate editor of Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. He received his Ph.D. in 1996 from Florida State University and previously served on the behavior analysis faculties at University of Nevada-Reno (1996-1999), Western Michigan University (1999-2008), and Auburn University (2008-2011).

Ruth Anne Rehfeldt, PhD, BCBA-D · Southern Illinois University, Carbondale    (top)
Toward a Technology Based on Derived Stimulus Relations   (abstract)

Dr. Rehfeldt is a Professor in the Rehabilitation Services undergraduate program and an affiliated faculty in the Behavior Analysis and Therapy program at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. She holds a BA in psychology from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA (1993), and a masters and PhD degrees from the University of Nevada (1998 graduation), where she was a student of Dr. Linda J. Hayes. Dr. Rehfeldt has published over 70 articles and book chapters in the area of derived stimulus relations and verbal behavior, and is particularly interested in the application of the derived stimulus relations research program to special populations. She is a co-editor with Yvonne Barnes-Holmes of the book Derived Stimulus Relations Applications for Learners with Autism and other Developmental Disorders: A Progressive Guide for Change (2009). Dr. Rehfeldt is the editor and business manager for The Psychological Record, a journal founded by J. R. Kantor and for which B. F. Skinner was one of the first editorial board members. She is also an editorial board member for Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, The Behavior Analyst, The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, and Education and Treatment of Children. Dr. Rehfeldt and her students have delivered over 100 conference presentations over the years. She was the co-founder and past President of the Mid-American Assocation for Behavior Analysis. Ruth Anne has been awarded the SIUC Rehabilitation Institute Teacher of the Year award several times in recent years, and was the Teacher of the Year for the College of Education and Human Services at SIUC during 2006. Ruth Anne is currently the project director on a nearly half-million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Education which provides training for undergraduate Rehabilitation Services students at SIUC.

Meet Dr. Rehfeldt at her book signing on Friday!

Other (OTH)    (top)

Garry Martin, PhD · University of Manitoba
Behavioral Sports Psychology: Examples and Guidelines From a 33-Year Journey   (abstract)

Dr. Martin is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Manitoba, where he has taught since 1966. His consulting activities and research have been largely devoted to autism, developmental disabilities, and sports psychology. He has co-authored or co-edited eight books and over 160 journal articles on various areas in behavioral psychology. His co-authored book (with Joseph Pear), Behavior Modification: What It Is And How To Do It, is now in its 9th edition, and various editions have been translated into Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, and Korean. His book, Applied Sport Psychology: Practical Guidelines from Behavior Analysis, is now in its 4th edition, and has been translated into Spanish and Portuguese. Dr. Martin has received numerous honors and awards including induction into the Royal Society of Canada, the Distinguished Service Award from the Brazilian Association of Psychotherapy and Behavioral Medicine, and the 2010 Award for Distinguished Contributions to Education and Training in Psychology from the Canadian Psychological Association.