Mentoring Students, the Future of ABA, and the Problem with Ignoring: Session 257 with Tim Vollmer

The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria

I'm thrilled to be joined by none other than Dr. Tim Vollmer. In this podcast, we talk about a wide variety of research and practice topics, as well as some funny stories from his long and prolific career.

Specifically, talk about how his dog ate his copy of Strategies and Tactics, how he and his colleagues analyzed 2 and 3-point shot patterns in basketball games, his line of research that examined The Good Behavior Game, Behavior Analysis and the game of Poker, and his take on why he and his students have such an affinity for one another.

That's not all. We probably spent the most amount of time discussing the topic of ignoring in the context of Behavioral Intervention Plans, and its potential problems.

I really hope you stick around until the end of the podcast, because we close the show in a slightly different format. Instead of asking Tim my normal closing question (advice for the newly minted), I ask him to share his thoughts on the future direction of Behavior Analysis, including both risks and opportunities.

Here are the links to the resources we mentioned:

• Beyond Freedom and Dignity (note: Amazon Associates Link).
• Vollmer and Bourret (2013). An application of the Matching Law to evaluate two and three-point shots by college basketball players.
• Football Behavior (BA-driven sports analytics from Brett Yarris).
• Chris Bosh on the Tim Ferriss show (wherein Chris discusses the evolution 3-point shooting strategy in the NBA).
• Strategies and Tactics for Behavioral Research and Practice, 4th edition (note: Amazon Associates Link).
• (Lloveras et al., 2023). Recommendations Regarding Use of the Term “Ignore” in Applied Behavior Analysis.
• Good Behavior Game episode with Dr. Jeanne Donaldson.
• Lambert et al., (2006). Effects of response cards on disruptive behavior and academic responding during math lessons by fourth-grade urban students. (this is the paper I mentioned from Bill Heward's research group, and I mistakenly noted that it was published in 1996, when in fact it was published in 2006).
• Follow Tim's lab on Instagram!

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• The Behavioral Toolbox. thebehavioraltoolbox.com is a new education and training site that my colleagues Anika Costa and Dr. Paulie Gavoni and I have been working on for over two years. If you’re a Behavior Analyst working in public schools, please check out our first course, Ready, Set, Consult! Our second course, When Not to FBA: 5 Strategies to Implement before Conducting a Functional Assessment, will also be out soon, and more trainings are on the way!