Howard Goldstein, PhD, CCC-SLP · The Ohio State University

Thursday, Feb. 18 • 4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.   (more info.)

Dr. Goldstein is Research Director of the Schoenbaum Family Center and Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences at The Ohio State University. Goldstein received his PhD in 1980 from Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. His contributions have been recognized as a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. His research interests include early intervention and the development of instructional approaches for teaching generalized language and social skills to children with developmental disabilities and for enhancing vocabulary development in students in high poverty schools. He is a nationally known scholar for his work and research in the field of child language intervention.

Identifying Evidence-Based Practices: Consumer Reports Evaluation of Autism Interventions
A variety of information clearinghouses, professional organizations, and government agencies have developed criteria to judge Evidence-Based Practices (EBP). It is important to consider why different stakeholders might select different evaluation criteria and perhaps why there has been a tendency to ignore single subject experimental design research. How perspectives are expected to differ among interventionists, client-consumers, policy makers, and scientists will be discussed. The presentation will introduce a set of criteria that have general applicability to experimental research. These criteria can be used to judge empirical support associated with various intervention strategies used with different populations. A set of 14 criteria were developed to evaluate single-subject and group experimental designs according to: (a) Experimental design characteristics, (b) Measurement and reliability, (c) Evaluation of treatment effects, and (d) External validity dimensions. A good deal of literature has reported interventions targeting social and communication skills in preschoolers with autism. Use of this EBP system will be illustrated through an examination of 60 articles investigating social skills interventions in this population. Results of this review will be summarized and tables using a Consumer Reports format will illustrate the adequacy of the studies across the dimensions rated. Applicability to various stakeholder groups will be discussed.


Edward K. Morris, PhD · University of Kansas    (top)

Friday, Feb. 19 • 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.   (more info.)

Dr. Morris is a professor and chairperson of the Department of Applied Behavioral Science at the University of Kansas. He teaches courses on the conceptual foundations of behavior analysis, the behavior analysis of language and cognition, and the history and systems of psychology. His current scholarly interests are in history and theory in the behavioral, social, and cognitive sciences, in particular, behavior analysis. In service, he has been president of the Association for Behavior Analysis International (1991-1992) and American Psychological Association Division 25 for Behavior Analysis (1995-1996) and has edited The Behavior Analyst (1984-1988), The Interbehaviorist (1983-1989), and the Division 25 Recorder (1990-1992). Currently, he is the chair of ABAI's Applications Review Committee and president of the Kansas Association for Behavior Analysis and KU's chapter of Sigma Xi: The Scientific Research Society.

The Gernsbacher Lectures: Cut Aways, Outtakes, and Bloopers - and Essentialism
Between 2005 and 2008, the renowned psychologist, Morton Ann Gernsbacher (University of Wisconsin), gave over a half-dozen public lectures under such titles as "The Science of Autism: Beyond the Myths and Misconceptions." In at least some of them, she concluded that the effectiveness of applied behavior analysis (ABA) for autism was a myth and misconception. In so doing, she misrepresented research reviews, mischaracterized ABA interventions, misconveyed research designs, selectively omitted results, and incorrectly interpreted outcomes. In 2009, I published a response to her presentations in The Behavior Analyst (TBA) -- "A Case Study in the Misrepresentation of Applied Behavior Analysis in Autism: The Gernsbacher Lectures." My CalABA presentation provides an in-depth review of this incident, drawing some professional and ethical lessons from it (e.g., regarding competence, public statements, teaching). For this, I review background material on Gernsbacher's lectures (e.g., her sponsors), conversations with colleagues (e.g., to publish or not), correspondence with her and her chairperson before I published (e.g., her threatening to sue me), and conversations and correspondence with colleagues after my publication (e.g., why I published in TBA). In closing, I address Gernsbacher's essentialist definition of ABA for autism as Lovaas's ABA program. The logic is faulty: No essentialist ABA program for autism exists. A myriad of programs exist based on, for instance, the many permutations of behavioral processes and procedures, and individual differences in children with autism.