Episode 78 - Should Behavior Analysts Use Social Thinking? w/ Dr. Justin Leaf

While many of you may have heard of Michelle Garcia Winner’s Social Thinking curriculum, have you ever wondered if it’s appropriate for behavior analysts to use it? Well, Dr. Justin Leaf certainly has and he joins us on the podcast to share all of his thoughts on the subject including whether Social Thinking is empirically supported, whether it should be categorized as scientific or pseudoscientific, and whether behavior analysts may be at risk of violating our ethical code for using it.

Articles discussed this episode:

Leaf, J.B., Townley-Cochran, D., Taubman, M., Cihon, J.H., Oppenheim-Leaf, M.L., Kassardjian, A., Leaf, R., McEachin, J., & Pentz, T.G. (2015). The teaching interaction procedure and behavioral skills training for individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder: a Review and commentary. Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2, 402-413. doi: 10.1007/s40489-015-0060-y

Leaf, J.B., Kassardjian, A., Oppenheim-Leaf, M.L, Cihon, J.H., Taubman, M., Leaf, R., & McEachin, J. (2016). Social Thinking: Science, pseudoscience, or antiscience? Behavior Analysis in Practice, 9, 152-157. doi: 10.1007/s40617-016-0108-1

Leaf, J.B., Kassardjian, A., Oppenheim-Leaf, M.L., Cihon, J.H., Taubman, M., Leaf, R., & McEachin, J. (2016). Erratum to: Social Thinking: Science, pseudoscience, or antiscience? Behavior Analysis in Practice, 9, 158-159. doi: 10.1007/s40617-016-0119-y

Crooke, P.J. & Winner, M.G. (2016). Social Thinking methodology: Evidence-based or empirically supported? A response to Leaf et al. (2016). Behavior Analysis in Practice, 9, 403-408. doi: 10.1007/s40617-016-0151-y

Crooke, P.J., Hendrix, R.E., & Rachman, J.Y. (2008). Brief report: Measuring the effectiveness of teaching Social Thinking to children with Asperger syndrom (AS) and high functioning autism (HFA). Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38, 581-591. doi: 10.1007/s10803-007-0466-1

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