Objectives
This assignment addresses the following course objectives:
Describe roles and responsibilities of a behavior analyst.
Describe responsible conduct of a behavior analyst.
Identify sections of the Code associated with specific ethical challenges encountered by behavior analysts and discuss ways to resolve the issues in accordance with the BACB Professional and Ethical Compliance Code for Behavior Analysts.
Discuss the dangers of using practices that are not research-based.
Discuss the importance of the protection of human subjects in research.
Use electronic resources to locate research articles and other scholarly works related to ethics in ABA.
Purpose
The purpose of this assignment is for you to expand your knowledge about the roles and responsibilities of a board certified behavior analyst (BCBA). As future behavior analysts, ethical considerations will serve as the foundation for all of your interactions. Although the course readings about ethics are an excellent way to establish your knowledge-base, interviewing and discussing this topic area with a Board Certified Behavior Analyst provides a real-life, applied perspective.
Deliverable
A paper that addresses the roles and responsibilities of a Behavior Analyst synthesizing course content, peer-reviewed journal articles, and information collected through your interview conducted with a Behavior Analyst.
Activity Details
Read assigned course readings prior to arranging and conducting the interviews.
Create open-ended interview questions.
The questions you write are intended to guide the development of your interview. Create interview questions that are thoughtful and open-ended. At minimum, target the following areas:
The interviewee’s training/preparation pertaining to ethics.
An ethical dilemma that the interviewee has encountered – and how it was resolved.
How does the interviewee approach their own continuing education and professional development in the area of ethical standards? How does the interviewee satisfy the Board requirements for CEUs?. Supervision?
How does the Behavior Analyst work to ensure effective communication with colleagues, parents and clients?
Recommendations the interviewee would make for future Behavior Analysts.
Prepare your interview questions in a format that will make it easy for you to ask the questions and then record the responses beneath the questions during the interview.
3. Make arrangements to conduct your interviews.
Make arrangements to interview a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). You are responsible for finding a qualified individual to interview. You may not interview your Ethics course instructors, yourself, your parents, or your spouse. Each student must conduct their own interview with a BCBA – students may not ‘group interview’ a BCBA to meet the requirements of this assignment.
4. Conduct your interview.
Conduct a synchronous (live) interview with a BCBA. You may conduct your interview in person, or remotely (via voice or video conferencing). You may not conduct your interview via email, shared documents (such as google docs) or text-based chat. Emailing questions to your BCBA interviewee rather than directly interacting and engaging in discussion will not meet the requirements of this assignment.
5. Prepare the paper.
Based on the insights you have gained from your interview(s), reflect and describe:
What you have learned about practice as a Behavior Analyst.
How does the Behavior Analyst ensure effective communication with clients, parents and colleagues?
What was the most notable of the interviewee’s responses?
As you prepare your paper, remember to include basic demographic information such as:
The Behavior Analyst’s official title (do not include specific school/district/business names).
How long has the Behavior Analyst worked in this field.
The type of clients the BCBA is responsible for.
Include your interview questions and under each question, put the interviewee’s answer in italics.
Refer to the Fine Tuning Ethics Assignment Scoring Grid for complete guidelines for this assignment
6. Submit your paper.
Submit your assignment using the Canvas assignment dropbox link provided in the course website.
Due Date
The Fine Tuning Ethics Assignment will be due on the date specified on the course schedule.
Scoring Rubric – Fine Tuning Ethics Assignment
Scoring Element
Points Earned
Points Possible
1. Summary detail of your interview, including:
Name and BCBA certificant number of your BCBA interviewee (you must include your interviewee’s BCBA certificant number to meet the requirements of this assignment).
Interview questions for your BCBA interviewee.
Interview responses from the BCBA.
Under each question, please include the interviewee’s responses in italics.
10 points
2. Produce a written reflection indicating:
What you have learned about practice as a Behavior Analyst.
What was the most notable of the interviewee’s responses?
15 points
3. Include a minimum of three references relevant to the responses/discussion with your interviewee.
5 points
4. Include at minimum, references to three self-selected journal articles relevant to your reflection.
5 points
5. APA Format
Professional tone and wording
Direct and indirect quotes from professional journals and texts cited within your document
References section
5 points
Total: 40 points