ABA Inside Track

The podcast is coming out a few days early just to give you a little more time to get tickets to one (or more) of some of our favorite conference events of the year. Not enough time to book a flight, sadly. But, if you're in the area, we strongly encourage you to check out one of the options we discuss in the episode.
The only thing scary about this month is how to find time to attend all of the amazing conferences, talks, and events given by some of the best minds in behavior analysis! But whether you're attending BABAT, the Thompson Center for Autism Conference, the latest Skinner Session, IABS's ABA in Public Schools Conference, or all of the above, you'll have a bunch of new episodes from ABA Inside Track to enjoy during your commutes. First we go back to basics with a sucessively approximate review of shaping procedures. After that, returning guest, Dr. Judah Axe, shares some of his favorite articles by B.F. Skinner and why studying from the field's OG still holds meaning in the modern day. And then we all sit criss-cross applesauce and discuss what makes for a good circle time and what do do when your circle goes pear-shaped.
So, get thee to a behavior analytic conference, after downloading our new episodes, of course. And, who knows...you might even see us there in person!
Articles for October 2026
Shaping w/ Dr. Jackie MacDonald
Ferguson, D.L. & Rosales-Ruiz, J. (2001). Loading the problem loader: The effects of target training and shaping on trailer-loading behavior of horses. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 34, 409-424. doi: 10.1901/jaba.2001.34-409
Newman, B., Reinecke, D., & Ramos, M. (2009). Is a reasonable attempt reasonable? Shaping versus reinforcing verbal attempts of preschoolers with autism. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 25, 67-72. doi: 10.1007/BF03393070
The Legacy of B.F. Skinner w/ Dr. Judah Axe
Skinner, B.F. (1984). An operant analysis of problem solving. The Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 7, 583-613. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X00027412
Skinner, B.F., (1948). Superstition in the pigeon. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 38, 168-172. doi: 10.1037/0096-3445.121.3.273
Circle Time w/ Dr. Diana Parry-Cruwys
Barton, E.E., Reichow, B., Wolery, M., & Chen, C. (2011). We can all participate! Adapting circle time for children with autism. Young Exceptional Children, 14, 2-21. doi: 10.1177/1096250610393681
Seifert, A.M. & Metz, A.E. (2017). The effects of inflated seating cushions on engagement in preschool circle time. Early Childhood Education Journal, 45, 411-418. doi: 10.1007/s10643-016-0797-7
Crozier, S. & Tincani, M. (2007). Effects of social stories on prosocial behavior of preschool children with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37, 1803-1814. doi: 10.1007/s10803-006-0315-7
Vargo, K.K., Heal, N.A., Epperley, K., & Kooistra, E. (2014). The effects of a multiple schedule plus rules on hand raising during circle time in preschool classrooms. Journal of Behavioral Education, 23, 326-343. doi: 10.1007/s10864-014-9199-3

IMPORTANT NOTICE: To earn CEUs for listening, you MUST sign up and listen to this episode on our website to get credit.
To listen for the fun of learning? Just push play!
Email us at abainsidetrack@gmail.com for further assistance.
To wrap up Supervision September, ABA Inside Track tackles the classic management book "Who Moved My Cheese?" and finds the whole thing less sharp than the millions of people who bought it on Amazon. Nevertheless, your stalwart Book Club crew finds a few ways to take the tiny parable of mice and men and the search for dairy products and create definitions of change behavior in the workplace and related exercises to complete with your trainees. And these ideas might be coming just in time: The boss that gifted this book to you at last year's holiday party really wants to see you using it!
Learning Objectives:
Participants will describe the premise of who moved my cheese behavior analytically. 

Participants will describe the advantages and disadvantages of using this book in their supervision practice. 

Participants will define the behavior of meaningful change.

Participants will describe supervision exercises that one can do with a supervisee that align with the tenets of the book.

This episode is available for 1.5 SUPERVISION CEUs.
Content discussed this episode:
Johnson, S. (1998). Who moved my cheese? GM Putnam's Sons.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: To earn CEUs for listening, you MUST sign up and listen to this episode on our website to get credit.
To listen for the fun of learning? Just push play!
Email us at abainsidetrack@gmail.com for further assistance.
Can it really be 10 years since Sellers, Valentino, and LeBlanc laid out an amaing and actionable list of supervision activities for behavior analysts to follow? Yup, you're that much older! And while you're undoubtedly better than your younger self, could the field of supervision say the same thing? This week Dr. Amber Valentino joins us to share the growth of supervision research in ABA, the areas and practices where we can still improve, and a new means of objectively evaluating just how well (or...not) your supervision behaviors are going.
Learning Objectives:
Participants will describe the five target areas described in Sellers et al. (2016). 

Participants will identify why relationship building is vital in supervision. 

Participants will describe the advantages of using the supervision calculator. 

This episode is available for 1.0 SUPERVISION CEU.
Articles discussed this episode:
Sellers, T.P., Valentino, A.L., LeBlanc, L.A. (2016). Recommended practices for individual supervision of aspiring behavior analysts. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 9, 274-286. doi: 10.1007/s40617-016-0110-7
Valentino, A.L., Fuhrman, A.M., & Beck, J. (2024). The development of a calculator for objectively evaluating supervisory behaviors in practice. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 17, 932-944. doi: 10.1007/s40617-024-00946-w

IMPORTANT NOTICE: To earn CEUs for listening, you MUST sign up and listen to this episode on our website to get credit.
To listen for the fun of learning? Just push play!
Email us at abainsidetrack@gmail.com for further assistance.
We spend a lot of time as supervisors using our brilliant, veteran brains to pass wisdom on to those under our supervisory purview. But does that mean that our friends and colleagues don't have anything useful to add to our learning experience? Jackie and Diana lead a discussion of what is known about utilizing peer feedback to improve learning and training outcomes. While peer feedback may have worked great when improving typing behavior, how does it support learning in a BST paradigm? And could it ::GULP:: maybe take the place of our sages on the stage approach?
Learning Objectives:
Participants will describe advantages and disadvantages of using peer feedback

Participants will describe the recommendations on how to promote peer feedback.

Participants will identify the steps of using peer-led BST on teaching empathic skills.

This episode is available for 1.0 SUPERVISION CEU.
Articles discussed this episode:
Fraidlin, A., Van Stratton, J.E., McElroy, A., & Aljadeff, E. (2023). Peer feedback: Recommendations for behavior analysts' training and supervision. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 16, 696-708. doi: 10.1007/s40617-022-00761-1
Tittlebach, D., Fields, L., & Alvero, A.M. (2008). Effects of performance feedback on typing speed and accuracy. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 27, 29-52. doi: 10.1300/J075v27n04_02
Law, V., Turner, L.B., & Brewer, A.T. (2024). Using peer-led behavioral skills training to teach trainees active and empathetic listening skills in a virtual environment. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 19, 250-263. doi: 10.1007/s40617-024-00954-w

IMPORTANT NOTICE: To earn CEUs for listening, you MUST sign up and listen to this episode on our website to get credit.
To listen for the fun of learning? Just push play!
Email us at abainsidetrack@gmail.com for further assistance.
Gamification adds fun, game-like components to otherwise dull, dry activities to increase motivation to engage with the task. But could it work for supervision? This episode Diana takes charge as she reviews how gamficiation can be added to the BCBA trainee practicum experience to make the basic ABA supervision activity go from fine to fabulous! Plus, the basics of the gamification process and how you might extend this fascinating research to your own work.
Learning Objectives:
Participants will identify the possible components of gamification.

Participants will identify the behavioral principles that likely produce behavior change in gamified settings.

Participants will review the fieldwork requirements and identify how a gamified approach could bolster fieldwork hours accrual.

This episode is available for 1.0 SUPERVISION CEU.
To see the original PowerPoint presentation attached, watch the video on YouTube.
Articles discussed this episode:
Morford, Z.H., Witts, B.N., Killingsworth, K.J., & Alavosius, M.P. (2014). Gamification: The intersection between behavior analysis and game design technologies. The Behavior Analyst, 37, 25-40. doi: 10.1007/s40614-014-0006-1
Parry-Cruwys, D. & MacDonald, J. (2021). Using gamification to promote accurate data entry of practicum experience hours in graduate students. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 14, 1-10. doi: 10.1007/s40617-020-00421-2
Deterding, S., Dixon, D., Khaled, R., & Nacke, L. (2011, September 28-30). From game design elements to gamefulness: Defining "gamification". [Workshop]. Proceedings of the 15th International Academic MindTrek Conference: Envisioning Future Media Environments, Tampere, Finland. doi: 10.1145/2181037.2181040