Abstract
The field of behavior analysis is growing rapidly, and high-quality supervision is essential to producing thoughtful and effective Board Certified Behavior Analysts. There is little empirical information about the behaviors that supervisors engage in to support trainees in developing critical skills. Therefore, our purpose in this study was to survey supervisors (n = 317) about their supervision practices to better understand how frequently they engage in recommended supervision practices and whether the frequency with which they engage in recommended practices is related to demographic characteristics. Our results suggest that there is wide variability in the extent to which individual supervisors engage in recommended practices, and that supervisors engage in practices more frequently for which there are concrete guidelines and supports in place (e.g., behavioral skills training). We discuss the implications of our results for supporting supervisors to engage in recommended practices and for future research.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Behavior Analyst Certification Board. (n.d.). BCBA eligibility requirements. Retrieved from https://www.bacb.com/bcba/#BCBAEligibilityRequirements
Behavior Analyst Certification Board. (2012a). BACB newsletter. Retrieved May 3, 2018, from https://www.bacb.com/wp-content/uploads/BACB_Newsletter_9-12.pdf
Behavior Analyst Certification Board. (2012b). Fourth edition task list. Retrieved May 3, 2018, from http://www.bacb.com/Downloadfiles/TaskList/BACB_Fourth_Edition_Task_List.pdf
Behavior Analyst Certification Board. (2012c). Supervisor training curriculum outline. Retrieved May 3, 2018, from https://www.bacb.com/wpcontent/uploads/2017/09/supervisor_curriculum.pdf
Behavior Analyst Certification Board. (2014). Professional and ethical compliance code for behavior analysts. Littleton, CO: Author.
Behavior Analyst Certification Board. (2017). Fifth edition task list. Retrieved May 3, 2018, from https://www.bacb.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/170113-BCBA-BCaBA-task-list-5th-ed-.pdf
Behavior Analyst Certification Board. (2018a). BACB certificant data. Retrieved from https://www.bacb.com/bacb-certificant-data/
Behavior Analyst Certification Board. (2018b). Supervision training curriculum outline (2.0). Littleton, CO: Author.
Behavior Analyst Certification Board. (2019). BCBA fieldwork requirements. Retrieved September 21, 2020, from https://www.bacb.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2022-BCBA-Fieldwork-Requirements_200828.pdf
Behavior Analyst Certification Board. (2020a). BACB certificant data. 855 Retrieved April 30, 2020, from https://www.bacb.com/bacb-certificant-data/
Behavior Analyst Certification Board. (2020b). US employment demand for behavior analysts: 2010-2019. Littleton, CO: Author
Brodhead, M. T., Quigley, S. P., & Wilczynski, S. M. (2018). A call for discussion about scope of competence in behavior analysis. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 11(4), 424–435. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-018-00303-8
DiGennaro Reed, F. D., & Henley, A. J. (2015). A survey of staff training and performance management practices: The good, the bad, and the ugly. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 8(1), 16–26. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-015-0044-5.
Ellis, J., & Glenn, S. S. (1995). Behavior-analytic repertoires: Where will they come from and how can they be maintained? The Behavior Analyst, 18(2), 285–292. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03392715
Garza, K. L., McGee, H. M., Schenk, Y. A., & Wiskirchen, R. R. (2018). Some tools for carrying out a proposed process for supervising experience hours for aspiring Board Certified Behavior Analysts. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 11(1), 62–70. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-017-0186-8.
LeBlanc, L. A., Heinicke, M. R., & Baker, J. C. (2012). Expanding the consumer base for behavior-analytic services: Meeting the needs of consumers in the 21st century. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 5(1), 4–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03391813.
LeBlanc, L. A., & Luiselli, J. K. (2016). Refining supervisory practices in the field of behavior analysis: Introduction to the special section on supervision. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 9(4), 271–273. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-016-0156-6.
Qualtrics. (2018). Qualtrics [Online survey software]. Retrieved from www.qualtrics.com
Sellers, T. P., Alai-Rosales, S., & MacDonald, R. P. F. (2016a). Taking full responsibility: The ethics of supervision in behavior analytic practice. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 9(4), 299–308. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-016-0144-x.
Sellers, T. P., LeBlanc, L. A., & Valentino, A. L. (2016b). Recommendations for detecting and addressing barriers to successful supervision. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 9(4), 309–319. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-016-0142-z.
Sellers, T. P., Valentino, A. L., Landon, T. J., & Aiello, S. (2019). Board Certified Behavior Analysts’ supervisory practices of trainees: Survey results and recommendations. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 12(3), 536–546. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-019-00367-0.
Sellers, T. P., Valentino, A. L., & LeBlanc, L. A. (2016c). Recommended practices for individual supervision of aspiring behavior analysts. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 9(4), 274–286. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-016-0110-7.
Spearman, C. (1904). The proof and measurement of association between two things. American Journal of Psychology, 15, 72–101.
Storm, C., & Todd, T. (1997). The reasonable complete systemic supervisor resource guide. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Tukey, J. W. (1953). The problem of multiple comparisons. Princeton University, Princeton, NJ: Unpublished manuscript.
Turner, L. B., Fischer, A. J., & Luiselli, J. K. (2016). Towards a competency-based, ethical, and socially valid approach to the supervision of applied behavior analytic trainees. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 9(4), 287–298. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-016-0121-4.
Tyler, J., & Tyler, C. (1997). Ethics in supervision: Managing supervisee rights and supervisor responsibilities. In J. Lonsdale (Ed.), The Hatherleigh guide to ethics in therapy (pp. 75–96). New York, NY: Hatherleigh Press.
Valentino, A. L., LeBlanc, L. A., & Sellers, T. P. (2016). The benefits of group supervision and a recommended structure for implementation. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 9(4), 320–328. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-016-0138-8.
Watkins Jr., C. E. (2012). Psychotherapy supervision in the new millennium: Competency-based, evidence-based, particularized, and energized. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 42(3), 193–203. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10879-011-9202-4.
Funding
This research was conducted without external funding.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Availability of data and material
Raw data may be obtained by contacting the corresponding author.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Research Highlights
• There is insufficient empirical information about supervisors’ practices to inform the development of policies and procedures to support high-quality supervision.
• We surveyed 317 supervisors about how frequently they engaged in recommended supervision behaviors.
• Results suggest variability in the use of recommended practices, both across supervisors and across types of recommended practices.
• Implications include areas for future research and the identification of recommended practices for which supervisors require support to engage in more often.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hajiaghamohseni, Z., Drasgow, E. & Wolfe, K. Supervision Behaviors of Board Certified Behavior Analysts With Trainees. Behav Analysis Practice 14, 97–109 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-020-00492-1
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-020-00492-1