Making the ‘Science’ Part of Your Everyday Practice: Session 167 with Jim Moore

The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria

Dr. Jim Moore returns to Behavioral Observations in this session. And I'm so thankful he had the time to chat, because this episode is jam-packed with great information for practitioners at all experience levels.

We spent a few minutes catching the audience up on some of the changes in Jim's life since his last appearance on the show. In particular, we discuss his new job as Chief Clinical Officer of Apollo Behavior and his move to the Atlanta area.

Afterwards, we managed to touch on several important issues in clinical practice, including the following:

• Our differing (initially) views on what it means to engage in scientific behavior... i.e., who is and is not a scientist.
• How identifying research questions differs in academia and practice.
• Solving behavior problems by examining overly strict rule adherence (and what to do about it).
• What to pay attention to when interviewing caregivers about problem behavior.
• How to trouble shoot stalled learner progress.
• Using Socratic questioning during clinical supervision (if you listen to any part of this episode, listen to this one!).
• A preview of what sounds like an incredibly interesting talk at the upcoming Stone Soup Conference (and if you're interested in attending this incredibly affordable and informative event, use the code PODCAST to save even more at checkout).
• Jim's point of view on the varying functional analysis practices that are being discussed in the literature.

We also recorded about 20 or so minutes of bonus content, which is available to Patreon subscribers (check out this link to learn more). In this segment of the show, Jim went into some detail regarding his ups and downs with his health and fitness, and how he's trying to get back on track, what it's like to be a Saints fan in the Atlanta Metro area, the parallels between good coaching and good leadership, and lots more.

Lastly, Jim was too gracious to shamelessly plug his practice group, but if the type of practice he describes interests you, hit him up on LinkedIn, or elsewhere on social media, as he's pretty easy to find.

Here are links to some resources we discussed:

• Jim's Research Gate page (lots of cool stuff!).
• Hayes, et al., 1986. Instructions, Multiple Schedules, and Extinction: Distinguishing rule-governed from scheduled-controlled behavior.
• Hayes, et al., 1986a. Rule-governed behavior and sensitivity to changing consequences of responding.
• Skinner's Six Attitudes of Science Quizlet (credit: Hillary Robbins).
• The Seven Steps to Instructional Control.

Quote #1:

The differences between applied and basic research are not differences between that which “discovers” and that which merely “applies.” Both endeavors ask what controls the behavior under study

Baer, Wolf, & Risley (1968)

Quote #2:

An applied behavior analysis will make obvious the importance of the behavior changed, its quantitative characteristics, the experimental manipulations which analyze with clarity what was responsible for the change, the technologically exact description of all procedures contributing to that change, the effectiveness of those procedures in making sufficient change for value, and generality of that change

Baer, Wolf, & Risley (1968)

Quote #3:

Applied research is designed to solve practical problems of the modern world, rather than to acquire knowledge for knowledge’s sake. One might say that the goal of the applied scientist is to improve the human condition.

Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory

This episode is brought to you by:

• The aforementioned Stone Soup Conference, again, use the promo code PODCAST to save, and hear talks from folks like Drs. Linda LeBlanc, Adithyan Rajaraman, Jordan Belile, and more!
• Behavior University. (who incidentally is sponsoring the Stone Soup Conference!) Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations.
• Consider joining the BOP Patreon. Patreon members get early access to podcasts, bonus podcast material, discounts on CEU events from FTF and other continuing ed purveyors, occasional Zoom hangouts, and more!
• The Professional Crisis Management Association, or PCMA for short. Later on in the show, you'll hear from one of the most popular podcast guests, Dr. Merrill Winston, where he'll talk about how PCMA helps agencies support individuals who exhibit dangerous behaviors. For more info on them, go to PCMA.com.