Assistant Behavior Analyst Certification
Applied behavior analysis is a scientifically valid, systematic approach to behavior change that examines the variables that reliably influence socially important behaviors. Behavior analysis is used wherever people are interested in behavior change: consumer marketing, rehabilitation clinics, schools, prisons and athletic coaching.
The Department of Psychology offers a sequence of courses that prepare students to sit for the Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst exam upon graduation. Students also complete 1,000 hours of fieldwork with actual clients under the supervision of a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, often working with special-needs populations such as children with autism.
The course sequence includes:
- Applied Behavior Analysis I
- Learning and Behavior
- Applied Behavior Analysis II
Students can complete their fieldwork at the Pathways Strategic Teaching Center, which offers intensive applied behavior analysis therapy to children and adolescents with autism. In addition, students may have the opportunity to present their research at national and regional professional conferences and to lead research teams on independent projects.
We are the only program in Rhode Island and one of only 50 nationwide to be approved by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board. For more information, contact Dr. Sheila Quinn at (401) 341-3104 or sheila.quinn@salve.edu.
Collaborative Research
Each year, teams of students and faculty present their research at regional and national psychology conventions. After working closely with faculty on real-world psychological behavioral investigations, students submit their results to convention review committees and have them evaluated by professional research psychologists before they are invited to participate.
Independent Study
Through the three-credit course Independent Study/Community Experience, junior or senior psychology majors in good academic standing have the opportunity to work one-on-one with a faculty member to study a topic of special interest to them, or to participate in a community service experience where psychological principles are being applied.