January Edition of “You Know You’re a Behavior Analyst When…”

By Emily Mandel, M.S., BCBA

bSci21 Contributing Writer

Back in November, we published “You know you are a behavior analyst when…” – a tongue-in-cheek list of ways to identify a behavior analyst, and a way to poke fun at ourselves.  Two months later, we have another edition of the popular list below.  You know you are a behavior analyst when…

…you record data on your friends, family, roommates, and significant others.

…you may or may not also graph these data.

…there is a multiple baseline graph on your fridge to measure the rate and duration of your dog’s barking across settings.

…you have to hold yourself back from telling that mom over there that she’s reinforcing her child’s attention-maintained behaviors.

…somebody always asks “are you analyzing my behavior right now?” when it comes up that you’re a behavior analyst.

…you get super excited when you’re watching TV and see characters correctly utilizing behavioral principles.

…you yell at your computer for correcting behavioral terminology. Reinforcer is a word, Microsoft Word!

…you don’t react to pain because you are still in planned ignoring mode.

…you have spent at least one full night dreaming about writing behavior plans.

…you’ve accidentally praised a friend in “that voice.”

…you own several pairs of arm guards.

…you frequently find yourself asking, “can you operationally define that?”

…all your New Year’s resolutions are measurable and graphable.

Did we leave any off the list?  Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to subscribe to bSci21 via email to receive the latest articles directly to your inbox!

Emily Mandel, M.S., BCBA, is a behavior clinician who works with children on the Autism Spectrum in the Greater Boston Area. She has over 3 years of experience delivering therapeutic services both in-home and in the public school system. Though she is predominantly focused on the utilization of Applied Behavior Analysis in treating individuals with disabilities, Emily enjoys examining topics such as religion, medicine, politics, and social constructs, through a behavioral lens. You can contact her at [email protected].