Date of Award

4-2018

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Dr. Stephanie Peterson

Second Advisor

Dr. Heather McGee

Third Advisor

Dr. Richard W. Malott

Fourth Advisor

Dr. Dennis Reid

Keywords

Supervision, BACB, behavioral skills training, feedback, goal setting, functional relationships

Abstract

Effective supervision for individuals seeking certification from the Behavior Analyst Certification Board® (BACB) has been a recent focus in the field of behavior analysis (BACB, 2012). While the organizational behavior management (OBM) literature is rich with evidence for specific performance-improvement techniques, there is a lack of research on supervision systems specifically for supervising individuals seeking to obtain the Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) credential. Furthermore, studies to date have not examined what it takes for systems to meet their missional objectives while simultaneously providing training and supervision to trainees. This descriptive, process-oriented study sought to analyze the disconnects within a specific university practicum that provided training to both undergraduate and graduate students. Graduate practicum students who received training in the system also completed their supervised experience toward BCBA certification there. After the disconnects were analyzed, steps were taken to improve them, beginning with the creation of a job model and materials to support the training and supervision of multiple performances identified in that job model (Garza et al., 2017). System improvement efforts were made within multiple subsystems of the broader training system, including a preliminary practicum, undergraduate practicum training system, a practicum support system, and a graduate practicum training system. Efforts were coordinated to avoid redundancies and ensure that effects of changes on each sub-system were accounted for. Satisfaction measures were collected at multiple levels within the system. Results are discussed with respect to Garza and colleagues’ (2017) proposed process for carrying out supervision.

Access Setting

Dissertation-Open Access

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