2006-07 Events and Colloquia
The Department of Psychology at Western Michigan University hosts presentations each year.
"THE HISTORY OF BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS"
Jack Michael, Ph.D.
Western Michigan University
Emeritus Professor
Sept. 29, 2006
"BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT AND INTERVERVENTION OF JAPANESE CHILDREN IN SCHOOLS: HOMOGENEITY AND DIVERSITY IN THE JAPANESE EDUCATION SYSTEM"
Junko Tanaka-Matsumi, Ph.D.
Kwansei Gakuin University
Department of Integrated Psychological Science
"ACHIEVING EXCELLENCE IN K-6 ELEMENTARY EDUCATION: A DATA-DRIVEN PROGRAM"
Howard Farris, Ph.D.
Western Michigan University
Emeritus Professor
Jan. 19, 2007
4TH ANNUAL BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS RESEARCH CONFERENCE
Feb. 23, 2007
"THREE RS FOR PSYCHOLOGY IN THE SCHOOLS: READING, RESTING, & GETTING IT RIGHT"
Mike Hixson
Carl Merle Johnson
Sharon Bradley-Johnson
Central Michigan University
Department of Psychology
March 16, 2007
The three segments of this colloquium will demonstrate how helpful data can be in improving services for children. The first R will address the importance of stimulus control in planning instruction in the area of reading. The second R will cover childhood sleep disorders and the importance of sleep for children and adolescents. The Getting it Right section will address children with low-incidence disabilities. An example will be presented showing how data debunked a long-standing myth regarding blind babies. Also, a data-based model will be presented for more accurate diagnosis of autism.
"THE PROFESSIONAL CREDENTIAL IN BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS: STATUS, IMPACT, AND FUTURE"
Jerry Shook, Ph.D.
Founder and Executive Director
Behavior Analyst Certification Board
Recipient of the 2006 Outstanding Psychology Alumnus Award
April 20, 2007
Dr. Jerry Shook received his Ph.D. in behavior analysis from WMU’s Department of Psychology in 1981. In 1998, Shook founded the Behavior Analyst Certification Board, a non-profit corporation whose mission is to develop, promote and implement an international certification program for behavior analyst practitioners. Since, 2000, the BACB has established training guidelines and administered professional competency exams, a process that has resulted in the credentialing of over 4000 behavior analysis practitioners in 9 countries. The BACB has also reviewed and approved academic training curricula for behavior analysis practitioners in over 75 universities. His work has greatly enhanced the quality of training and the professional stature of behavior analysis practitioners. His contributions to the discipline have also been recognized by the Professional Service Award from the Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis and by his election as a Fellow of the Association for Behavior Analysis.
"Private Events in a Natural Science"
David Palmer, Ph.D.
Smith College
May 11, 2007
Dr. David Palmer has undergraduate degrees in English and geology. A fan of Henry David Thoreau's Walden, he borrowed copy of Skinner's Walden II and became enamored with the conceptual, philosophical and scientific aspects of Skinner's radical behaviorism. After experimenting with a Walden II style community, he entered graduate school at the University of Massachusetts Amherst where he studied with Beth Sulzer-Azaroff and John Donahoe. With Donahoe, Palmer coauthored Learning and Complex Behavior, which applies the science of behavior and the physiology of learning to the explanation of complex behavioral issues. He is nationally recognized for his scholarship on conceptual issues involving complex human behavior including verbal behavior and covert behavior.