Determining essential content for applied behavior analyst practitioners

This article reports the procedures and findings of a job-analysis study recently conducted by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board, Inc. (BACB) and considers some implications of the survey data collected during this process. The job analysis focused on the applied sector of the field of behavior analysis and limited its inquiry into matters of professional competencies and training. The results represent a unique sample of demographic information and valuable collection of opinions regarding the competencies and training required of applied behavior analyst practitioners. Because these opinions have a direct effect on certification task standards and content of the BACB credentialing examinations, which in turn drive the curricula of undergraduate and graduate programs in applied behavior analysis, it is important to consider what these views might mean for the continuing evolution of the field of behavior analysis.     

A General Methodology for the Translation of Behavioral Terms into Vernacular Languages

As the field of behavior analysis expands internationally, the need for comprehensive and systematic glossaries of behavioral terms in the vernacular languages of professionals and clients becomes crucial. We created a Spanish-language glossary of behavior-analytic terms by developing and employing a systematic set of decision-making rules for the inclusion of terms. We then submitted the preliminary translation to a multi-national advisory committee to evaluate the transnational acceptability of the glossary. This method led to a translated corpus of over 1200 behavioral terms. The end products of this work included the following: (a) a Spanish-language glossary of behavior analytic terms that are publicly available over the Internet through the Behavior Analyst Certification Board and (b) a set of translation guidelines summarized here that may be useful for the development of glossaries of behavioral terms into other vernacular languages.