ABA Inside Track

We had so much fun talking with Danielle Yang about the potential of tabletop role-playing games as a component of behavior analytic skill acquisition treatment from a research perspective. But in case that wasn't enough to give you a sense of what such an ABA session could look like, Danielle returns to run Rob and school psychologist/BCBA, Matt Carter, through a demo session of RPGs as a framework for teaching mindfulness and denial tolerance. Will Matt and Rob learn to be more flexible? Or will the impassable mushroom village be their doom?
Interested in learning more about this topic? Danielle offers a deeper-dive course into the use of RPGs in treatment and skill planning. You can also join her Discord to chat with other RPG/ABA practitioners.

A kobold approaches! He's looking for someone to help him with his social skills to gain greater friends at the taverns. Do you roll for behavior analysis clinical skills? Or attack him with your +2 broadsword?
While we've definitely discussed role-playing activities in training contexts, recent years have seen a huge increase in interest in gamification in learning a variety of skills. One area of research is in the use of tabletop role-playing games in therapeutic and clinical settings. But is there any research to back up the hype? This week we're joined by active RPG player clinical user, Danielle Yang, to dive into the research base as we work to answer the question: could the use of RPGs in treatment be considered behavior analytic?
Interested in learning more about this topic? Danielle offers a deeper-dive course into the use of RPGs in treatment and skill planning. You can also join her Discord to chat with other RPG/ABA practitioners. And keep your eye out for a bonus episode this month where we'll be demoing just HOW a tabletop RPG could be used in a clinical setting.
This episode is available for 1.0 LEARNING CEU.
Articles discussed this episode:
Arenas, D.L., Viduani, A., & Araujo, R.B. (2022). Therapeutic use of role-playing game (RPG) in mental health: A scoping review. Simulation and Gaming, 53, 285-311. doi: 10.1177/10468781211073720
Yuliawati, L., Wardhani, P.A.P., & Ng, J.H. (2024). A scoping review of tabletop role-playing game (TTPRG) as a psychological intervention: Potential benefits and future directions. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 17, 2885-2903. doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S466664
Helbig, K.A., (2019). Evaluation of a role-playing game to improve social skills for individuals with ASD. [Doctoral dissertation, University of Southern Mississippi]. Aquila Digital Community.  https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/1673
If you're interested in ordering CEs for listening to this episode, click here to go to the store page. You'll need to enter your name, BCBA #, the two episode secret code words, and answers to the knowledge check questions to complete the purchase. Email us at [email protected] for further assistance.

UNLOCKED from our Patreon page, it's the "The Science of Consequences" Book Club! Interested in more Book Clubs? Want to vote on what we read next? Feeling FOMO at getting this a full year late? Wish your 2.5 CEs for listening to the episode were FREE??? Join us on Patreon to get all of our episodes a week early, access to these bonus episodes, plus other goodies.
As a follow-up from our episode on storytelling, we our Winter 2024 Book Club explored Dr. Susan Schneider's 2012 opus, The Science of Consequences, as an example of taking the hugely important concept of learning through consequences and making it understandable to the wider public. But hey, while she was at it, why not explain how consequences impact evolution, or gene expression, or social improvement strategies. And add multiple examples of how consequences work in labs and the natural environment across a wide range of human and non-human species. And make it fun to read!
But before our crack Book Club squad dives into the nitty gritty of the content, we had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Schneider herself to ask how she managed to take millions of years of the effects of consequences and pack it into a 300+ page book as well as how her study of consequences informs her current work as a climate change policy advocate.
This episode is available for 2.5 LEARNING CEUs.
Content discussed in this episode:
Schneider, S.M. (2012). The science of consequences: How they affect genes, change the brain, and impact our world. Prometheus Books.
If you're interested in ordering CEs for listening to this episode, click here to go to the store page. You'll need to enter your name, BCBA #, and the two episode secret code words to complete the purchase. Email us at [email protected] for further assistance. Want these CEs for FREE? Just subscribe to our Patreon at the $10+ levels and go to the original post for a discount code.

ROB: I have behavior analysis and this book to thank for my growth as a human being and for helping me to understand how so many of the harms of the modern Republican party--a party I voted consistenly for until 2016--have led us to the cruel, fascistic situations we find ourselves here in American under the Trump administration. Yet despite the recent killings in Minnesota, some portion of U.S. citizens still consider Trump and his jackbooted thugs worth supporting. Hopefully at least all of our listeners are disgusted and outraged at the actions of the President. If not listen to our discussion of Murray Sidman's still timely "Coercion and Its Fallout". I don't think a person with any knowledge of the science of human behavior could read this important work and not be utterly apoplectic at the unethical garbage spewed by the White House and its staff. And, if you're already mad as hell about the state of America, you'll be DOUBLE-MAD!! But have more succinct words as to how things could and should be better.
If you missed this episode when we released it many years ago, now's a great time to hear it. And, if you've been with us since our episodes were still in double-digits, enjoy a revisit of the work that asks the very important question: Is it worth supporting systems that lionize the use of negative reinforcement and punishment at the exclusion of all else?
Our original post(s)
EPISODE 91: It's time for the 3rd Annual ABA Inside Track book club.  This year we'll be discussing the late, great Murray Sidman's important social work Coercion and Its Fallout.  Rob, Diana, and Jackie go on a deep dive through chapters 1-10 of the book including a discussion of rat behavior, societal shocks, and a laundry list of the crummy ways in which society treats itself.
EPISODE 92: How hot is our book club discussion of chapters 11-19 in Murray Sidman's Coercion and Its Fallout? So hot Rob had to edit out about 15 minutes of our takes! What's left goes into detailed descriptions of how many of the societal systems we take for granted are, in fact, coercive.  And, of course, that there's got to be a better way (hint: positive reinforcement).  Plus, Rob and Diana describe old Disney cartoons from the 40s while Jackie sings preschool songs.  Truly, something for everyone.
This episode is available for 2.0 LEARNING CEUs.
Content discussed in this episode:
Sidman, M. (1989). Coercion and it's fallout. Boston, MA: Authors Cooperative, Inc.
If you're interested in ordering CEs for listening to this episode, click here to go to the store page. You'll need to enter your name, BCBA #, and the two episode secret code words to complete the purchase. Email us at [email protected] for further assistance.
Patrons at the $10 and up level, go to the original post to get 2 FREE CEUs.

Heeeeeey, it's Rob's birthday. Time to pick this month's theme!
Maybe it's the near decade's worth of podcasting, but this February, Rob decided that his impeding aging anniversary should also receive celebration in the form of "OOPS! All Rob picked articles". So, given carte blanche to talk about anything in the world of ABA, what did he choose? Well, first, he took the week off while we unlock last year's Winter Book Club on "The Science of Consequences" with a bonus interview with author Dr. Susan Schneider (interested in 2.5 CEs for free? Upgrading to the $10 level on Patreon is your answer). After that, he brings special guest, Danielle Yang, to the table to learn about the state of therapeutic role-playing games and how your weekly D+D game could be added into your ABA services. And finally, because it's been far too long and is one of the most mind-blowingly awesome procedures in his 20 years in the field, Rob brings back the Preschool Life Skills for a record-breaking THIRD time!
The best part about Rob's birthday is by just listening to these episodes, you've already gotten him all the gifts he could ever want.
NOTE: We talk a lot about the upcoming changes to the website. Well, due to some technical problems, we had to rush the new website news to...LAST WEEK! Hopefully abainsidetrack.com will take you straight there, but, if not, our new website is now HERE!
Articles for February 2026
(UNLOCKED) The Science of Consequences Book Club (feat. Dr. Susan Schneider)
Schneider, S.M. (2012). The science of consequences: How they affect genes, change the brain, and impact our world. Prometheus Books.
 
Role-Playing Games in Behavior Analysis w/ Danielle Yang
Arenas, D.L., Viduani, A., & Araujo, R.B. (2022). Therapeutic use of role-playing game (RPG) in mental health: A scoping review. Simulation and Gaming, 53, 285-311. doi: 10.1177/10468781211073720
Yuliawati, L., Wardhani, P.A.P., & Ng, J.H. (2024). A scoping review of tabletop role-playing game (TTPRG) as a psychological intervention: Potential benefits and future directions. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 17, 2885-2903. doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S466664
Helbig, K.A., (2019). Evaluation of a role-playing game to improve social skills for individuals with ASD. [Doctoral dissertation, University of Southern Mississippi]. Aquila Digital Community.  https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/1673
 
Preschool Life Skills Three-view
Falligant, J.M. & Pence, S.T. (2017). Preschool Life Skills using the Response to Intervention model with preschoolers with developmental disabilities. Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice, 3, 217-236. doi: 10.1037/bar0000056
Rees, R.E., Seel, C.J., Huxtable, B.G., & Austin, J.L. (2024). Using the Preschool Life Skills program to support skill development for children with trauma histories. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 17, 693-708. doi: 10.1007/s40617-023-00892-z
Lee, H., Gunning, C., Leow, J., & Holloway, J. (2024). An evaluation of delivery of the parent Preschool Life Skills program via telehealth. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 57, 893-909. doi: 10.1002/jaba.2914