ABA Strategies for Safer Playground Behavior: Inside JABA 23
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
Release Date: 07/01/2025
The Four Leadership Hats: Applying Behavioral Science to Leadership and Supervision — Session 321 with John Guercio
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
In this episode, I’m joined by John Guercio for a wide-ranging and practical conversation about leadership through a behavioral lens. John and I dig into what it actually means to lead in applied behavior analysis, especially when so much of the existing leadership literature is vague, mentalistic, or disconnected from observable behavior. We start by talking about the need to operationalize leadership in behavioral terms and explore the four leadership hats developed by : leading, training, coaching, and managing. We break down what each of these roles looks like behaviorally, how they...
info_outline
The Importance of Hard and Soft Skills in ABA Practice: Session 320 with Tiffany Kodak and Landon Cowan
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
In Session 320, I sit down with Landon Cowan and Tiffany Kodak to talk about an area of behavior analysis that doesn’t get nearly enough attention: professional (or “soft”) skills. We spend a lot of time in our field teaching and refining technical, clinical, or “hard” skills—and for good reason. But far less time is devoted to the interpersonal, communication, and problem-solving skills that ultimately determine how effective we are as clinicians, supervisors, and collaborators. In this conversation, Landon and Tiffany share their research aimed at identifying, defining, and...
info_outline
2025 Year in Review: Session 319 with ABA Inside Track
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
Don’t adjust your podcast player folks, you have the right show. Welcome to Session 319 of the Behavioral Observations Podcast. If you’ve been listening for a bit, you know what’s coming. If you’re new to the show however, first, welcome and thanks for listening. Every year, I team up with my friends from the ABA Inside Track Podcast to do a Year In Review episode. We’ve tinkered with the format over time, but for this one, we talk briefly about the trends and issues that we thought were important in 2025. From there, we discussed some of the most downloaded shows from our podcasts...
info_outline
Smarter Study Strategies Using Cover, Copy, and Compare: Session 318 with Sarah Frampton
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
In this episode, I sit down with , who conducts research on, amongst other things, improving how we teach, learn, and organize information using behavior-analytic strategies. We explore her career journey, her research on graphic organizers and the Cover, Copy, Compare (CCC) strategy, and the broader implications for stimulus equivalence, educational technology, and effective teaching. In This Episode, You’ll Learn: How Sarah’s unconventional path led her from economics and psychology into Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). Why note-taking and structured...
info_outline
Eye Contact and AI in ABA Treatment: Session 317 with Francesca degli Espinosa
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
In Session 317, I sit down with Dr. Francesca Delia Espinoza to revisit one of the most foundational—but often misunderstood—topics in behavior analysis: eye contact. We explore why eye contact shouldn’t be treated as a simple objective, but instead understood within its broader social and developmental context. Francesca explains how eye contact is better re-framed as "eye-looking," and why behavior analysts need a strong conceptual foundation for evaluating when, how, and why to teach it. We discuss her recent paper in Perspectives on Behavior Science, which encourages practitioners to...
info_outline
Making ABA Research Matter: Practical Dissemination Strategies for Behavior Analytic Scholars, Inside JABA 25
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
Episode Overview In this special episode of the Behavioral Observations Podcast, I had the honor of celebrating the 25th installment of the . This one was particularly meaningful because it also marks the final appearance of Dr. John Borrero in his role as Editor-in-Chief of . I invited John to reflect on his three-year tenure—what he learned from reading an enormous volume of manuscripts, how his thinking evolved, and why adapting our language is essential if we want behavior analysis to reach broader audiences. From there, we transitioned into an...
info_outline
Trauma-Informed Behavior Analysis, A Guide for BCBAs: Session 315 with Gabi Morgan and David Adams
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
Thanks for joining me in Session 315 of The Behavioral Observations Podcast. In this episode, I spoke with Drs. and to dive deep into trauma-informed behavior analysis. Gabi brings her 30-year journey in the field—from undergrad roots to professorship at —while David shares his evolution from child and family therapy to clinical psychology, with a heavy focus on foster and adoptive parenting. Both guests are passionate about closing the divide between trauma therapy and behavioral strategies, and they credit mentors like for lighting the way. We...
info_outline
Supporting Schools in Hawaii with the Care Project: Session 314, Live from HABA 2025
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
If you follow Behavioral Observations on , you might recall that I had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel to the 20th Annual conference to give the closing Keynote Address. I could devote an entire podcast episode to talking about all the wonderful people I met, the fun experiences I had, and the amazing sights I was able to take in. One of the biggest highlights though, was the opportunity to sneak in the following conversation I had with a panel of employees from Hawaii's Department of Education. It turns out that the State of Hawaii is doing some innovative work in...
info_outline
Client Assent in Behavior Analysis: Balancing Autonomy & Clinical Progress, Session 313 with Cody Morris
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
In Session 313, Dr. Cody Morris from , and the newly re-launched podcast (please also see ), joins me to dive into a topic that has merited quite a bit of discussion in Applied Behavior Analysis. These days, you pretty much have to be living under a rock in ABA circles to not have noticed the increased focus on assent practices in treatment programming. Cody is one of the preeminent authorities on this topic, and in this episode, we talk about the definitions of assent, how assent has been conceptualized in other fields, and how it applies to the work we do as Behavior Analysts. In doing so,...
info_outline
From Amazon to Autism Care: AI Powered Tools for ABA and Diagnostics: Frontera Series on AI with Grant Sickle
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
In this episode of The Behavioral Observations Podcast, I talk with , former Amazon product leader and current head of product at , a company building AI-powered platforms to improve autism care. Grant shares how his team is developing and tools to shorten waitlists, streamline reporting, and support clinicians in delivering more efficient ABA therapy. We also discuss how Frontera’s app enables HIPAA-compliant behavior tracking, parent engagement, and asynchronous supervision — while addressing the issue of . This conversation highlights...
info_outlineWelcome back to the Inside JABA series—this is Episode 23, and it's a must-listen for anyone interested in using Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) to improve safety in school settings.
In this episode, Dr. Jeannie Donaldson and Gabriela Gomes join Dr. John Borrero and me to discuss the paper, "Effects of differential reinforcement and time-out on the unsafe
playground behavior of young children" (note: first author, Elizabeth Linton unfortunately was not able to join us).
🎯 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
- Playground Safety Statistics: The surprisingly high rates of injury during recess and why this matters.
- Behavior-Analytic Interventions: A review of previous ABA research focused on playground safety and injury prevention.
- Reinforcement vs. Time-Out: Pros, cons, and ethical considerations when using these strategies in natural environments.
- Study Design and Results: How the researchers implemented the intervention, what the data showed, and how students responded—both behaviorally and emotionally.
- Participant Choice & Social Validity: Insights into student preferences and recess enjoyment.
- Implications for Schools: How schools and practitioners can implement similar interventions and where the research should go next.
As you can see below, the intervention package was quite effective:
đź“ś Subscribe to JABA
Want access to cutting-edge research like this? Subscribe to The Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and stay informed on the latest evidence-based practices.
đź“š Resources & Research Mentioned:
- Linton, Gomes, and Donaldson (2025). Effects of differential reinforcement and time-out on the unsafe playground behavior of young children.
- Donaldson, et al. (2013). Effects of a reduced time-out interval on compliance with the time-out instruction.
- Chotto, Linton, and Donaldson (2024). Direct and indirect effects of and preferences for feedback during the Good Behavior Game in elementary classes.
- Heck, et al. (2001). Decreasing children's risk taking on the playground.
- Schwebel, et al. (2006). The Stamp-in-Safety Program: A Behavioral Intervention to Reduce Behaviors that Can Lead to Unintentional Playground Injury in a Preschool Setting.
- Peltier, et al. (2023). Effects of and preference for student- and teacher-implemented good behavior game in early elementary classes.
🎓 Earn CEUs for Listening
All Inside JABA episodes are available for CEU credit! Click here to purchase and earn your CEUs.