Analyzing the Unseen: Novel Applications of Behavior Analysis to Personal and Societal Problems is the kind of topic that looks straightforward until it collides with the speed, ambiguity, and competing demands of language assessment, teaching sessions, caregiver coaching, and natural communication routines. In Analyzing the Unseen: Novel Applications of Behavior Analysis to Personal and Societal Problems, for this course, the practical stakes show up in clearer case conceptualization, better instructional targets, and stronger generalization, not in abstract discussion alone.
Provider: BehaviorLive — via Florida Association of Behavior Analysis
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Join Free →This session highlights two novel applications of behavior-analytic principles to socially significant yet underexamined human experiences: covert verbal behavior in trichotillomania and grooming and exploitation in human trafficking. The first presentation explores the application of functional analysis (FA) procedures to hair-pulling behavior maintained by automatic negative reinforcement in individuals with trichotillomania. Using a pairwise design, this study evaluated the influence of negative and positive covert self-statements on hair-pulling and related behaviors. The second presentation offers a theoretical framework for understanding grooming and enmeshment tactics used by traffickers through the lens of operant conditioning. It conceptualizes grooming as a cumulative reinforcement process shaped by antecedent conditions and consequences, emphasizing how traffickers' use of force, fraud, and coercion can be systematically analyzed using behavior-analytic principles. Together, these presentations illustrate how private events and environmental contingencies interact to shape complex, internalized patterns of behavior. By integrating analyses of overt and covert control, both papers extend the reach of applied behavior analysis into areas often considered beyond its traditional scope. This session invites discussion on how behavior analysts can conceptualize and address behaviors shaped by coercive control and private verbal behavior, with implications for both prevention and intervention in clinical and social domains.
| Certification Body | Credits | Type |
|---|---|---|
| BACB® | 1 | General |
| COA | 1 | — |
| FL MH/PSY | 1 | — |
Stephanie Howell is a doctoral candidate in the ABA program at the University of South Florida with research interests in staff management and staff reactivity, caregiver and staff training, automatically maintained self-injury, and trichotillomania.
Dig into the research behind this topic — plain-English summaries written for BCBAs.
280 research articles with practitioner takeaways
258 research articles with practitioner takeaways
239 research articles with practitioner takeaways
All behavior-analytic intervention is individualized. The information on this page is for educational purposes and does not constitute clinical advice. Treatment decisions should be informed by the best available published research, individualized assessment, and obtained with the informed consent of the client or their legal guardian. Behavior analysts are responsible for practicing within the boundaries of their competence and adhering to the BACB Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts.