Ep26 What Does it Mean to be Constructional? with Awab Abdel-Jalil

Atypical Behavior Analyst

Let’s be honest, working with humans can be difficult. To formulate successful programs for clients, there are a variety of contingencies to consider, and several approaches that can be taken. There are multiple competing contingencies, learning histories, and the ebb and flow of potentiating variables. It may seem to be an overwhelming task, but there are a variety of ways to help interpret/understand the complexities of human behavior and construct programs to address them.

In this live talk we meet with Awab Abdel-Jalil co-author of Nonlinear Contingency Analysis: Going Beyond Cognition and Behavior in Clinical Practice to learn about the history and creation of Dr. Israel Goldiamond’s nonlinear contingency analysis and Constructional Approach. He will also discuss how these approaches can work with various populations.

Learning Objectives:

1. Discuss how the constructional approach and behavior analysis go hand in hand.

2. Label different ways to encourage more accurate self-reports from clients.

3. Discuss the broad applications of the constructional approach with a variety of clients.

Take Aways- your bite-sized educational noms

- The Constructional Approach expands or puts another layer to Skinner’s description of behavior analysis. Humans are complex and the Constructional Approach can help to interpret the complex and often competing contingencies. It also helps bridge the gap between Behavior Analysis and Clinical Psychology.

- While the logs may seem to rely on self-reports (and they do), what has been observed is participants are more likely to reports accurately because they want to see a change. When changes aren’t happening or progress seems slow, the behavior analyst can investigate the motivation and contingencies. Is the individual not motivated? Do they have the skills? Does the log need to be modified to promote more accurate responding? The Constructional Approach strongly encourages problem solving both for the participant and the behavior analyst.

- The Constructional Approach can be used with a variety of seemingly complex behaviors such as schizophrenia, eating disorders, depression, career and life goals. Other areas of application include caregiver, staff, and parent involvement. Potential areas for research could be in the area of looking at logs of parents, siblings, other group home members to analyze their interwoven contingencies and how they impact everyone.

Worth 2 Learning CEUs

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