A Behavioral Prescription for Promoting Applied Behavior Analysis Within Pediatrics

Abstract

In recent decades, pediatric medicine has undergone a shift in focus from infectious diseases to the effects of behavior on the health and development of children. At the same time, behavior analysts have increasingly evaluated the direct application of their technology to the development and maintenance of child health behavior. Unfortunately, applied behavior analysts have developed their technology parallel to, rather than collaboratively with, pediatricians and, as a result, are not recognized as experts in the treatment of child health behavior. In addition, behavioral technology is not widely recognized as the treatment of choice by pediatricians. This paper provides a behavioral prescription for behavior analysts who wish to enter pediatrics as expert scientists and technicians. Specific recommendations are provided for stimulating collaborative rather than parallel development between applied behavior analysis and pediatrics in the promotion and maintenance of child health behavior. Strategies for maintaining this collaborative relationship and for strengthening the social relevance of behavior analysis are discussed.

The Efficacy of Noncontingent Escape for Decreasing Children's Disruptive Behavior During Restorative Dental Treatment

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Are Brazilian Behavior Analysts Publishing Outside the Box? A Survey of General Science Media

“…Indeed, as Carr (1996, p. 263) has affirmed, BUntil we make it clear that we too cherish society's highest values, speak its language, and are sensitive to its political yearnings, we should expect to be ignored; and, we will be.D isseminating reliable data and effective interventions that address society's challenges is a sound way to gain cultural acceptance. Fortunately, we can climb the shoulders of prominent authors, whose advice is invaluable in pursuing such an endeavor (Allen, Barone, & Kuhn, 1993;Critchfield, 2014;Freedman, 2015;Friman, 2014a;Morris, 1985Morris, , 2014Normand, 2014;Reed, 2014;Schlinger, 2014a;Smith, 2016;Todd, 2014;Vyse, 2014;Zarcone, 2015). The reason why Brazilian behavior analysts do not publish outside the box, however, does not lie primarily in their unawareness of BA isolation, potential media, or dissemination strategies but in the absence of contingencies of reinforcement for dissemination.…”