hi my name is Erin Bertolli and I am a board certified behavior analyst with
Brett DiNovi & Associates in this video I will be discussing the role that
private events play in our students lives and how we as behavior analysts
can and should address these types of behaviors do you work with students that
often just shut down or seem to get stuck on issues they're having with
peers or at home express feelings of frustration or failure there are schools
and homes full of children and teens who struggle with rigidity stress and an
influx of negative thoughts feelings and emotions and many behavior analysts
avoid addressing these behaviors because they're covert or seemed to mentalistic
Skinner made this very clear from the very start behavior analysis is supposed
to be a comprehensive science of psychology a comprehensive science of
everything organisms do which include private events Skinner paved the path
for this third wave of behaviorism let's start by defining private events in
Skinner's book science and human behavior he suggests three things about
the nature of private events one thoughts and feelings are in fact
behavior 2 behavior that takes place within the skin is distinguished from
other public behavior only by its inaccessibility 3 private events are
influenced by or a function of the same kinds of variables as publicly
accessible behavior many behavior analysts such as myself identify
themselves as part of this radical behaviorism meaning that we acknowledge
the presence and potential importance of private events as forms of behavior that
are subject to the same environmental control as over behavior but how do we
do this how do we analyze private events and facilitate behavior change for these
covert behaviors mindfulness based interventions and acceptance and
commitment therapy are two technologies that are available to us and the
research is very promising even though people in the eastern world have been
practicing mindfulness for thousands of years it is
increasingly popular in the US and third wave behaviorists are all over it
according to hundreds of studies mindfulness and mindfulness based
interventions have been proven to be effective in strengthening immune
functions increasing attention memory and cognition promoting personal
development such as self compassion empathy and perspective taking and in
decreasing anxiety an act is even more exciting because it's a mindfulness
based intervention that incorporates five other processes that in combination
work to increase greater psychological flexibility and facilitate socially
significant behavior change act was developed in 1982 by dr. Steven Hayes
who is a clinical psychologist and faculty member in the ph.d program and
behavior analysis at the University of Nevada he is the number-one guy behind
relational frame theory and acceptance and commitment therapy and has authored
over 40 books and over 500 scientific articles according to dr. Hayes act as
part of this third wave of behaviorism he explains act as explicitly contextual
istic and is based on a basic experimental analysis of human language
and cognition or relational frame theory rft has become one of the most actively
researched behavior analytic theories of human behavior rft explains why concepts
such as cognitive fusion and experiential avoidance are harmful act
targets these processes and is producing supporting data both at the process and
outcome level according to dr. Hayes psychological flexibility is the ability
to contact the present moment more fully as a conscious human being and to change
or persistent behavior when doing so serves valued ends psychological
flexibility is established through six core processes as shown in the hexa flex
here and more and more studies are being
published that continue to support this new functional contextual approach to
behaviorism still unsure if the stuff is legit if it's within a BCBA scope of
practice let's take a look at the bacb task list look at all of these areas of
the task list and this is just to name a few and in terms of the seven dimensions
of ABA these interventions are supported by research the interventions have been
shown to be effective in promoting more adaptive flexible behavior which is very
socially significant and when objectively defined can be measured and
monitored in the same way any other intervention can to summarize private
events our language based and can be better understood through a relational
frame theory and rule governed behavior in which act is routed rule-governed
behaviors behavior that occurs as a function of the contingencies specified
in the rule rather than as a function of direct contact with the environments of
contingencies the effects that overt behavior have on future behavior can be
explained both by the direct contingencies in the environment as well
as language based contingencies however private events affect future behavior
through language based contingencies such as relational framing and rule
governed behavior and through act based interventions which is a behavioral
approach to understanding covert verbal behavior in terms of how it functions
for an individual in a particular context we can alter those relational
frames to promote more adaptive flexible behavior and it may seem quite unclear
as to how we would use these concepts with kids to make change luckily there
are some brilliant people in our field who have taken these act concepts and
developed models that are perfect for kids
I will now briefly mention two of these models further content is being created
on each of these models so stay tuned for more information the first is the
aim curriculum developed by dr. mark Dixon and Dana Paula Lunas the second is
the DNA V model developed by dr. Lewis Hayes and Joseph Sorachi it is a
contextual behavioral science model or simply put a developmental model of act
for kids again information on both of these models are forthcoming so if you'd
like more information and are interested in helping to disseminate the science
please click the link below and feel free to subscribe in addition I would
like to specifically acknowledge dr. Steven Hayes dr. Mark Dixon dr. Thomas
Sabo Jonathan Tarbox Ruth Ann Rayfield and Evelyn Gould who among many others
have done remarkable work in this area of behavior analysis and who have been
so influential in my motivation to incorporate an analysis of private
events in my work