Stranger in a Strange Land: Implementation
Science for Behavior Analysis
Ronnie Detrich
Wing Institute
ABAI, 2014

Talking Points
• Provide an example of successful culture change.
• Describe principles of effective dissemination.
• Behavior Analyst as cultural anthropologist.

Large Scale Change
• Efforts typically have relied on rational discourse to persuade others to change.
• Generally a weak model for change.
 Not everyone shares the assumptions necessary for argument to be persuasive.
 Not everyone is influenced by data.
• Alternative strategies are necessary.

Texas Cleans Up
• In the mid-1980s Texas was spending $20 million to clean up roadside litter.
• Various campaigns had been ineffective
 Keep America (Texas) Beautiful (Lady Bird Johnson)

What Did They Do?
• Target audience: Males between 18-35
• Series of public service announcements by iconic
Texans including:
 Willie Nelson
 Joe Ely
 Texas Tornados
 Fabulous Thunderbirds

No One More Iconic than SRV

Effects of Don’t Mess with Texas
• Reduced roadside litter by 72% between 1986-1990.
• Effects are maintaining.
• Considered the most successful anti-littering campaign in history.
• Phrase has become part of the culture of Texas extends well beyond littering.

Science of Implementation
• Identifies variables that result in broad scale adoption of new practices.

Influencing Dissemination
• Rogers (2003): Diffusion of innovation is a social process, even more than a technical matter .
• The adoption rate of innovation is a function of:
 its compatibility with the values
 beliefs
 past experiences of the individuals in the social system.

Principles for Effective Dissemination:
Improving the Odds
(Rogers, 2003)
• Innovation has to solve a problem that is important for the “client.”
• Innovation must have a relative advantage over current practice.
• It is necessary to gain support of the opinion leaders if adoption is to reach critical mass and become selfsustaining.
• Innovation must be compatible with existing values, experiences and needs of the community.

Stranger in Strange Land: Behavior Analyst as
Cultural Anthropologist
• Anthropologist identifies values and behaviors that define a culture.
 Values=reinforcers within the culture.
 Behaviors=maintained by those reinforcers.
• Assessing culture:
 Identifies important cultural practices and maintaining reinforcers.
 Identifies potential obstacles to culture change
 Suggests strategies for change.

Defining Cultural Practice
• Cultural practice: behavior that most members of the defined culture do.
 Both overt and verbal behavior.
 Can be measured via direct observation and surveys.
 Measurement method depends on behavior of interest.
e. g. Aarons-Evidence-based Practice Attitude Scale

Metrics for Measuring Cultural Practice
• Incidence rates:
 frequency that specific behaviors occur within a period of time.
• Prevalence:
 percent of population that engages in behavior.

Some Assumptions
• High incidence rates + widespread prevalence = contingencies supporting practice .
• Changing cultural practices requires changing the relevant contingencies.

Possible Interactions
High
Incidence
Low
Cultural Practice Cultural Practice
•
Inadequate Frequency
Not Cultural Practice
• Subset of population engages in behavior
• Effective contingencies in place for this subset of culture
Not Cultural Practice
• No contingencies to support behavior

Analytical Task
High
Incidence
What contingencies support practices?
Low
Barriers to higher frequencies?
•
Lack of time?
• Lack of resources?
•
Unclear expectations?
Differences between high/low performers?
• Training?
• Experience?
• Peer group?
Barriers to greater prevalence/incidence?
• Verbal repertoires?
• Training?
• Unclear expectations?

Closing Thoughts
• Not everyone is persuaded by data and scientific explanation.
• To be effective, it is necessary to attend to audience variables and “make the case” in the most effective way.
• Behavior analysts should behave like cultural anthropologists.

Thank you.
Slides available at winginstitute.org

Example
• Incidence
 Example: CBM probes completed = 10 per 2 weeks.
 Goal: 20 students x 20 teachers x 2 weeks = 800 probes.
• Prevalence
 20% (4/20) of teachers completed at least one CBM probe in 2 week period.
 Goal: 100% (20/20) of teachers complete CBM probes every 2 week.

Possible Interactions
High
Incidence
Low
Cultural Practice Cultural Practice
• Inadequate Frequency
Not Cultural Practice
• Subset of population engages in behavior effective
• Contingencies in place for this subset of culture
Not Cultural Practice
• No contingencies to support behavior

Measuring Verbal Behavior
• Some occasions prevalence more important measure than frequency.
 Verbal behavior measures
 Example: “attitudes” toward data-based decision making.
 Task is to identify breadth and depth of “attitude.”
– Example: Aarons (2005) measured attitude toward EBP among mental health workers.
 Verbal behavior does not always correspond to overt behavior.
 Important to measure all behavior not just verbal.
– Ferster (1967) what people do more important than what they say.