Blood was streaming out of Tim’s ear and down the side of his cheek.
It was then I realized I was in over my head.
Anonymous, a new MA-level Board Certified Behavior Analyst®
B
ehavior analysis offers us a set of basic principles that explain a wide range of behavior. Our field is sufficiently robust in that it offers treatments for the complete spectrum of clients, from infants to seniors, from individuals with severe and profound disabilities to world-class athletes and Fortune 500 CEOs. The Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA) has provided us over 40 years of well-controlled studies that point to a precise method-ology for measurement, a complete system for functional analysis, and a replicable and reliable treatment protocol that fulfills B. F.Skinner’s dream of a validated science of behavior that can be put into service for the benefit of mankind.
This strong, scientific foundation obviously puts us in an ideal position to make a significant contribution to society. The down-side is that in some circumstances, we might raise the expectations of our consumers and not be able to meet them—not because we don’t have the technology but because our personnel are not suf-ficiently versed in the details for each population.
In short, problems arise when behavior analysts are not totally competent in an area for which they are asked to pro-vide treatment. A behavior analyst who specialized in autism treatment in graduate school may not know exactly how to work with patients with Alzheimer’s disease, and someone who got his practicum training in an elementary school classroom may not know how to treat a teenager with developmental dis-abilities and serious self-injurious behavior. Our Guidelines for Responsible Conduct make it clear that behavior analysts should not practice outside their area of expertise, but this doesn’t prevent administrators, supervisors, parents, or others from asking for help with such cases.* The caring and compas-sionate behavior analyst might have a hard time turning away such requests, especially if there do not appear to be any other qualified individuals around.
tOtaL COmpetenCe In appLIed BehavIOr anaLYsIs To be totally competent in applied behavior analysis means that you have gone beyond the minimal requirements to pass the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) exam. Way beyond. It is widely acknowledged that the exam is a test of mini-mal competence to practice in the field. There is an understand-ing that board-certified assistants should be supervised by Board Certified Behavior Analysts®. Passing the BACB exam, however, does not mean that you are qualified to take on any case that comes along. The expectation of leaders in the field is that you will continue to read on your own and participate in continu-ing education as long as you are a member of this proud new profession.
Expanding your knowledge of behavior analysis means keep-ing up with new books that are comkeep-ing out each year, gokeep-ing to the
* See J. S. Bailey and M. R. Burch, Ethics for behavior analysts: A practical guide to the behavior analyst certification board guidelines for responsible conduct, Mahwah, NJ:
annual Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) conference, and attending sessions both in your specialty and in broader scope areas. The ABAI has initiated the B. F. Skinner Lecture Series in which scholars and researchers indirectly related to behavior analysis are invited to present their latest data and their innovative theories related to behavior. For example, at the 2008 conference, you could attend sessions titled “Empirical Measures of Social Information Processing,” “Neurobiology of Cocaine Self-Administration,” or “Not by Genes Alone: How Culture Transformed Human Evolution.” Each of these sessions was a mind-expanding, enriching experience where behavior analysts in attendance were challenged to formulate a world-view of behavior analysis that is intriguing, complex, and excit-ing. To think that our perspective on behavior is taken seriously by behavioral scientists of all types is gratifying, and to begin to understand how everything fits together is challenging, to say the least. Attending conferences and attending sessions will advance your competence to a new level.
Another way to stay competent in behavior analysis is to engage in regular dialogues with colleagues on topics of the day.
You can take your cue from articles in The Behavior Analyst, The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, JABA, or the new journal Behavior Analysis in Practice and gather with colleagues to discuss and debate topics such as “the nature of clinical depression” or “cul-turally sensitive functional analytic psychotherapy.” It is through such discussions that you can remain sharp and current on the theoretical issues that are fundamental to our field. Keeping up with applied research involves revisiting your research methods class notes and taking a shot at digesting topics such as the “util-ity of extinction-induced response variabil“util-ity for the selection of mands.” Experts in the field read the professional journals regu-larly, ponder the articles, and think of ways to apply the theo-ries and data to their everyday practices. If you want to someday be counted among the experts, you’ll work to develop this very valuable habit.
tOtaL COmpetenCe In YOur speCIaLtY
Within applied behavior analysis, there are a number of specialty areas. Starting with autism and moving on to the work that is done in zoos, we can accurately say that behavior analysis special-ties range from A to Z. Specialty areas within behavior analysis include but are not limited to areas as diverse as animal behavior, autism, behavioral gerontology, behavioral medicine, behavioral safety, clinical and developmental behavior analysis, developmen-tal disabilities, direct instruction, evidence-based practice, the experimental analysis of behavior, health and sports issues, orga-nizational behavior management, parent training, performance management, sex therapy, and verbal behavior.
Total competence within a specialty means that you have first defined your area of exper-tise as it relates to the course work you’ve taken and the practicum experience you’ve had. Total competence also