Susan G. Friedman, Ph.D.

This is my new hero! Dr. Susan Friedman is a psychology professor at Utah State University who has pioneered the application of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) to captive and companion animals. ABA, with its roots in human learning, offers a scientifically sound teaching technology and ethical standard that can improve the lives of all learners.

I went to 2 of her lectures at Clicker Expo: 


Functional Analysis: The Sexy Side of ABC (Antecedents, behaviour, consequences)
Functional (ABC) assessment allows us to hypothesize the relations between environmental variables (antecedents and consequences) as well as the behavior being assessed. Functional analysis is the formal test of those hypotheses. 


The Rat Is Never Wrong: Understanding Errorless Learning
We all know the saying, “We learn from our mistakes.” But, mistakes resulting from poorly designed training can be costly. Learners practice errors, which can make correct response less likely, and learners can become frustrated as a result of the low rate of reinforcement. These costs led researchers and practitioners to ask, “Are errors really necessary for learning to occur?”

And these were just a few of the amazing learning experiences this year's Clicker Expo offered.

I loved it!

See you tomorrow
Emmy and the Hazyland Boys