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1 BACB General CEUs $20 48 min On-Demand

General CEU: Investigating the Reinforcing Effects of Social Interactions

Investigating the Reinforcing Effects of Social Interactions belongs in serious BCBA study because it shapes whether behavior-analytic decisions stay useful once they leave a clean training example and enter case conceptualization, intervention design, staff training, and literature-informed problem solving. In Investigating the Reinforcing Effects of Social Interactions, for this course, the practical stakes show up in stronger conceptual consistency and better translational decision making, not in abstract discussion alone.

Provider: BehaviorLive — via Florida Association of Behavior Analysis

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Course Description

This symposium will focus on recent research into the reinforcing efficacy of social interactions. The first paper, presented by Laura DeZayas, will discuss using a concurrent operant preference assessment (COA) to evaluate preferences for different social interactions among individuals with ASD as well as the extent to which those social interactions can reinforce on-task behavior. The second paper, presented by Alecksandra Castañeda, will compare results from preference and reinforcer assessments for social interactions as well as changes in those results across time. Grace Sigwanz will then present on challenging behavior during sociability assessments and corresponding functional analyses. Finally, Dr. Brianna Laureano will discuss points of interest and broader conclusions from the research.

What You'll Learn

  1. Discuss the benefits and drawbacks of social interactions as reinforcers.
  2. Identify empirically supported preference and reinforcer assessments for social interactions.
  3. Describe a sociability assessment and its potential connection to challenging behavior.

CEU Credits Earned

Certification BodyCreditsType
BACB® 1 General
COA 1
FL MH/PSY 0

About the Instructor

KW
Kara Wunderlich
Ph.D., BCBA-D

Dr. Wunderlich joined the School of Behavior Analysis in 2025 as a faculty member and Academic Coordinator for the ABA Online program. She earned her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Florida in 2015. She previously served as a faculty member in the special education and behavior analysis departments at the University of Georgia and Rollins College, respectively. Her research interests are diverse, encompassing automatically reinforced behavior, the scientist-practitioner gap, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. She has published and presented her work in both traditional behavior analytic outlets and in scholarship focused on teaching and learning in higher education.

Symposia
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Research Explore the Evidence

Dig into the research behind this topic — plain-English summaries written for BCBAs.

Social Cognition and Coherence Testing

280 research articles with practitioner takeaways

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Measurement and Evidence Quality

279 research articles with practitioner takeaways

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Symptom Screening and Profile Matching

258 research articles with practitioner takeaways

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Clinical Disclaimer

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.

60+ Free CEUs — ethics, supervision & clinical topics