Association for the Advancement of Radical Behavior Analysis
Affiliated in 2008 as a national chapter of ABAI.
Contact Info
- Alessandro Valdina
- Milan, Italy
- AARBA website
- Chapter News (September 2011)
Mission/Objectives
To develop, enhance, and support the growth and vitality of behavior analysis through research, education, and practice in academic, governmental, social, and organizational environments.
Description of Membership
The council of the association is made up of psychologists, behavior analysts, medical doctors, engineers, qualified professionals in the field of HF and HR management, university teachers, and deans of scientific and humanistic faculties (Milan, Parma, and Messina Universities in Italy). All of the associates have a strong background in experimental research on human behavior, have been documented in scientific reviews and books, and lecture at scientific conferences on HF and HR related topics. Most of them are internationally recognized by the scientific community in the field of behavior analysis.
Annual or Recurring Events
AARBA organizes yearly international conferences on topics of interest for learning and behavior management, and an annual international conference on work safety.
With the aim to further spread the concept and protocol of behavior-based safety, AARBA held the 5th European Conference on Behavior-Based Safety June 15–17, 2011, at Milan University in Milan, Italy. The event included a parallel session on applied behavior analysis with the participation of major European behavior analysts, and was co-organized by the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies in the US. This conference is the largest of its type outside the US. Registration was free for all participants.
Since 2001 AARBA has conducted conferences to promote the knowledge and practice of behavior analysis in the fields of safety, medicine, and education, and to promote collaboration among behavior analysts in Europe and the US. All OBM professionals and I/O psychologists are invited to discover the B-BS protocol or to deepen their understanding of it. In addition, all professionals interested in the philosophy, science, education, and teaching of behavior analysis are invited.
AARBA also sponsors continuing education in OBM for dentists, and post-graduate courses in behavior-based safety for professionals in many fields; the next round of these post-graduate courses is scheduled in Milan for October–December 2011.
Publications/Newsletters
Scienza e Sicurezza sul Lavoro is a paperback book published and distributed by AARBA. AARBA has been dedicating most of its energy and activities in the past four years to presenting information on behavior-based safety. In 2007 AARBA published the first Italian book about this subject, a translation of the well-reputed American consultant and behavior analyst Terry McSween.
AARBA continues to disseminate information on behavior analysis via the Journal of Applied Radical Behavior Analysis (JARBA), which is a free web publication. It contains articles by prominent Italian researchers covering topics such as disabilities, autism, precision teaching, etc.
Specifically of Interest to Behavior Analysts
AARBA focuses on prediction and control of human behavior in any environment, and development of organizational behavior-management systems in any institutional and industrial setting, with particular emphasis on preventive and safety behavior. AARBA develops methods and electronic devices for training and behavior management. The chapter's main interest is devoted to two fundamental topics: developing instructional design systems and training methodologies to teach effective behaviour (i.e., safe actions, behavior chains, and verbal behavior inherent to safety), and teaching machines such as PT/e-learning. AARBA implements behavioral system analysis to improve human performance through the "three contingencies model" (i.e., activation of known safety behavior, compliance to safety procedures, adherence to safety culture and values, and discretionary effort).