ABA on Call

In the Season 8 premiere of ABA On Call, Rick and Doug kick off the year by responding to three of the most pressing listener questions from the past season: how behavior analysts should think about punishment and ethics, how well-intended ABA can accidentally cause harm, and how the field can better address professional burnout. The conversation examines punishment through a technical, ethical, and real-world lens, emphasizing wellbeing, context, and the necessity of replacement skills rather than simple behavior suppression. The hosts then explore how skipping analytic steps, overreliance on familiar techniques, and systems-level pressures can lead to harmful outcomes despite good intentions. Finally, they turn to burnout as an organizational and relational problem, discussing supervision, workplace culture, and systemic contingencies that shape staff wellbeing. Together, these topics frame a practical, ethically grounded roadmap for doing ABA in a way that is both effective and humane.
 
To earn CEUs for listening, click here, log in or sign up, pay the CEU fee, + take the attendance verification to generate your certificate! Don't forget to subscribe and follow and leave us a rating and review.
 
Show Notes:
Procedural Fidelity Data as an Indicator of Quality Service Delivery in Aba Organizations

This episode explores the often-confused concepts of morality and ethics and examines how each guides human action both in daily life and in professional practice. Morality reflects the norms and values individuals and cultures use to judge right and wrong, while ethics serves as a formal system for evaluating and regulating behavior within professions. Building on this distinction, the episode introduces a scientific perspective on moral truths: the idea that morality can be grounded in facts about what increases or decreases the well-being of conscious creatures. Finally, the hosts apply these ideas to behavior analysis, discussing how moral considerations, empirical outcomes, and ethical codes intersect in real practice. Using examples ranging from family interactions to clinical decision-making, the hosts illustrate how a data-driven understanding of well-being can shape more humane, effective, and responsible behavior-analytic work.
 
To earn CEUs for listening, click here, log in or sign up, pay the CEU fee, + take the attendance verification to generate your certificate! Don't forget to subscribe and follow and leave us a rating and review.
 
Show Notes:
https://www.samharris.org/books/the-moral-landscape

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3739395-when-slow-is-fast-enough

In this episode of ABA On Call, Rick and Doug sit down with doctoral student Christina Sena from the University of Pittsburgh to explore how ethical principles guide mentorship, clinical decision-making, and professional development in Applied Behavior Analysis. The conversation spans three critical areas: the ethics of mentorship and what it truly means to guide another professional beyond mere supervision; the ethical implications of using or rejecting punishment and extinction, highlighting the analyst's duty to understand behavioral processes while safeguarding dignity, consent, and least-restrictive practice; and finally, the BACB's decision to exclude podcasts from supervised fieldwork hours, which raises broader questions about how evolving technologies challenge traditional standards of evidence, accountability, and ethical oversight in training the next generation of practitioners.
 
To earn CEUs for listening, click here, log in or sign up, pay the CEU fee, + take the attendance verification to generate your certificate! Don't forget to subscribe and follow and leave us a rating and review.
 
Show Notes:
Sidman, M. (1989/2001). Coercion and its fallout. Basic Books. Boston: Authors Cooperative (reprinted).https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/714514.Coercion_and_Its_Fallout
 
Tarbox, C., Tarbox, J., Bermudez, T.L. et al. (2023). Kind Extinction: A Procedural Variation on Traditional Extinction. Behavior Analysis Practice.https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40617-023-00833-w

This episode of ABA On Call features an engaging discussion with Jennifer Shahin and Nicole Lockerman, co-founders of Social Wise VR, a company pioneering the use of immersive virtual reality to teach social skills. Drawing from backgrounds in applied behavior analysis and education, the guests describe how outdated methods, such as worksheets and role-plays, often fail to generalize to real-life contexts. Social Wise VR addresses this challenge by providing realistic, actor-driven scenarios in controlled VR environments, allowing learners to safely practice social interactions, build confidence, and experience the natural consequences of different choices. The conversation explores the development journey, the integration of ABA principles and curriculum design, expansion into workplace and safety scenarios, and the future of VR and AR technologies in behavioral intervention. This dialogue highlights the potential of technology to bridge critical gaps in social skills training for individuals with autism and beyond.
To earn CEUs for listening, click here, log in or sign up, pay the CEU fee, + take the attendance verification to generate your certificate! Don't forget to subscribe and follow and leave us a rating and review.
 
Show Notes:
SocialWise VR creates authentic social experiences in the virtual world helping people feel confident in real-life situations.
https://www.socialwisevr.com/

Rick and Doug are joined by Dr. Jen Wertalik of Georgia Southern University and Dr. Pam Wolfe, retired from Penn State University, to discuss their groundbreaking new book on sexuality education for individuals with disabilities. The conversation explores why sexuality education is essential, the heightened risks of abuse faced by this population, and how comprehensive instruction extends far beyond physiology to include relationships, self-advocacy, and decision-making. The guests highlight both the challenges and opportunities of preparing teachers, parents, and caregivers to navigate an often-taboo topic with empirical, practical strategies. Listeners will come away with a deeper understanding of how sexuality education empowers individuals with disabilities to live safer, more fulfilling lives.
 
To earn CEUs for listening, click here, log in or sign up, pay the CEU fee, + take the attendance verification to generate your certificate! Don't forget to subscribe and follow and leave us a rating and review.
 
Show Notes:
Coming Soon!