Sacha Pence

Sacha Pence
Assistant Professor
Office: 
(269) 387-4473
Location: 
3746 Wood, Mail Stop 5439
Mailing address: 
Department of Psychology
Western Michigan University
1903 W Michigan Ave
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5439 USA
Education: 
  • Ph.D., West Virginia University, 2012
  • M.S., Northeastern University, 2007
  • B.S., Northern Michigan University, 2004
Certification: 
  • BCBA-D
Teaching interests: 
  • Behavior analysis
  • Behavior assessment
  • Behavioral approaches to treatment
  • Practicum in behavior analysis
Research interests: 
  • Treatment integrity errors
  • Staff training
  • Assessment and treatment of severe challenging behavior
Bio: 

Dr. Sacha Pence is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Western Michigan University.

Dr. Pence received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Biology at Northern Michigan University. She went on to earn her master’s degree in Applied Behavior Analysis at Northeastern University while working at the New England Center for Children (NECC) on the Staff Intensive Unit with children and adolescents diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and developmental disabilities. While at NECC, Dr. Pence worked under the supervision of Dr. Eileen Roscoe on research related to assessment and treatment of severe challenging behavior. She completed her Ph.D. in Psychology with an emphasis on Behavior Analysis at West Virginia University (WVU) under the mentorship of Dr. Claire St. Peter. While at WVU, Dr. Pence worked on the Behavior Analysis for Teachers (BATs) program, training public-school teachers to become Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) and in a specialized classroom for children diagnosed with emotional and behavioral disorders who engaged in challenging behavior that prevented them from being successful in their general education classrooms. Dr. Pence is a BCBA at the doctoral level (BCBA-D).

She currently supervises practicum students at the undergraduate and graduate level at KRESA West Campus, which is a preschool for children with developmental disabilities with substantial communication and skill deficits. As part of her work at West Campus, she trains graduate students to develop skills related to behavioral assessment (challenging behavior and skill assessments), behavioral programming, communication and skill-acquisition programming, and staff training and management.

Prior to joining WMU, Dr. Pence was the director of the Applied Behavior Analysis program at Drake University and a faculty member at Auburn University. She is a former president of the Alabama Association for Behavior Analysis (ALABA).

Dr. Pence served as a guest Action Editor for Education and Treatment of Children and serves as a guest reviewer for the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Behavioral Interventions, Behavioral Development, Behavior Analysis in Practice, and the Journal of Behavioral Education.

Her research largely focuses on improving treatment outcomes for children who engage in challenging behavior, evaluating procedures to teach skills to children with developmental disabilities, evaluating the effects of treatment-integrity errors, and assessing staff-training procedures and outcomes.

Dr. Pence is accepting terminal master’s and Ph.D. students for the upcoming 2022 academic year.