This presentation was recorded at the 2015 CCBS West Coast Conference on Autism
About the presentation:
This talk will discuss the basic characteristics of science, with special emphasis placed on their relationship to behavioral science, including acceptable standards of evidence against which to evaluate the proliferation of treatment claims having the potential to affect behavior analysts, both in research and in practice. Attention will be given to those fads and fallacies that currently abound in the areas of autism research and treatment. Following a discussion of scientific standards of evidence, defining features and “red flags” of pseudoscience, and the importance of skepticism, some examples of popular treatment claims in the field of autism, developmental disabilities, and the like will be reviewed and the evidence for and against each presented. The address will conclude with some cautionary notes for behavior analysts about our own field.
About the presenter:
Dr. Matt Normand received his BA in Psychology from Western New England College, his MA in Behavior Analysis from Western Michigan University, and his MS and PhD in Cognitive and Behavioral Sciences from the Florida State University. He is an Associate Professor in the department of psychology at the University of the Pacific and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA-D)®. At Pacific, his primary responsibilities are teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in the experimental analysis of behavior, basic and applied, and supervising behavior analysis research and practicum work.His primary scientific interests, broadly defined, are the application of basic behavioral principles to problems of social significance (including obesity and community health issues), verbal behavior, and the philosophy of science. He has authored more than three-dozen scientific papers and book chapters and over 100 conference presentations. He is the current Editor of The Behavior Analyst, an Associate Editor for the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, a former Associate Editor for the journals The Behavior Analyst, The Analysis of Verbal Behavior and Behavior Analysis in Practice, and he serves on the editorial board of Behavioral Interventions. Dr. Normand is the 2011 recipient of the B. F. Skinner New Researcher Award from the American Psychological Association (Div. 25).