The Great Divide: Verbal Behavior and Relational Frame Theory

In this episode, Dr. Megan Miller muses about the divide in the field of behavior analysis relating to Verbal Behavior and Relational Frame Theory. Joe Smith provides insight as a relatively new BCBA and we explore the divide from this perspective too. What do you know about this divide in our field? Which “camp” do you think Dr. Miller and Joe fall into? Will they agree or disagree? Listen to the episode to find out more!

This episode starts with a jog down memory lane as Megan muses about her early experience with EIBI/Lovaas and the problems she encountered and how they were addressed. The musings continue as Megan discusses how as a practitioner she learned about RFT and what was functional for her practice. Then the excitement begins! RFT or VB….WHY??? This portion of the episode is the lengthiest and most heated piece for Dr. Miller she throws a lot of abbreviations out there: ABLLS-R, VBMAPP, PEAK, FIT Learning…what does it all mean? Listen to find out! Things start to really take a turn when Dr. Miller brings in the Macro vs Micro discussion and the importance of recognizing both types of analyses. She even finds a way to discuss Hanley and his research and how it applies to all of this! You are probably asking yourself by now, what does this even mean for practitioners? Great question. That is what we talk about next. The episode concludes with an analysis of the Leprechaun example provided during the BOP episode with Dr. Palmer and Dr. Pritchard. Joe and Megan ultimately conclude that they want to know why we all can’t just get along?