Wondering what jobs and career options are available to Master’s in Applied Behavior Analysis degree holders? You may be surprised to find out that your possibilities reach far beyond the classroom.
According to the Association for Professional Behavior Analysts, 80% of Board Certified Behavior Analysts are employed full time in job settings that include:
- Educational assessment, planning, and program evaluation
- Therapy and mental health
- Developmental disabilities and behavioral disorders
- Staff and parent training
The list below highlights some of the more traditional applications of applied behavior analysis as well as some out-of-the-box and experimental career paths available to master’s degree holders.
Board Certified Behavior Analyst®
To become a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst® (BCBA), master’s students must complete their degree program and supervised clinical experience in addition to passing the certification exam.
BCBA career options are vast and varied. These professionals provide services for children, adolescents, and adults with autism, intellectual or developmental disabilities, or mental disorders. With the primary objective of improving their patients’ mental and physical health, independence, and social functioning, BCBAs analyze their behavior patterns; they then map out programs to modify existing behaviors, replace undesirable behaviors with new, more appropriate behaviors, and expand upon their behavioral repertoire. BCBAs find work in schools, homes, hospitals, assisted living facilities, and more. Learn more about the Behavior Analyst Certification Board.
Organizational Behavior Management
Organizational behavior management (OBM) aims to improve individual or group performance within an organizational setting, particularly in businesses. The goal of applied behavior analysts in organizational analysis is to create a balanced situation in which poor performance areas are improved, high performance areas are maintained, and organizational goals are met. Applied behavior analysts focus on principles such as reinforcement, punishment, and stimulus control to hit these targets. The overarching hope of this process is to create happier employers and employees, leading to a more efficient and harmonious workplace. Read the BACB’s fact sheet on organizational behavior management.
Animal Behaviorist
With a Master’s degree in Applied Behavior Analysis students can further their education with a P.h.D to become an Animal Behaviorist. As an Animal behaviorists an applied behavior analyst gets “back to basics” to analyze and modify operant (or voluntary) behaviors in non-human animals. Operant conditioning was developed by B.F. Skinner. Though the concept was first explored by Edward Thorndike, Skinner rejected Thorndike’s reference to unobservable mental states (like pleasure,) instead focusing solely on observable behavior and its equally observable consequences. Skinner stressed that reinforcement leads to desired actions or responses, while punishment stops undesired actions responses. Skinner gained worldwide recognition after training pigeons in World War II to guide missiles to their targets using operant conditioning, effectively proving that a positive outcome leads to learned behavior (the pigeons learned to peck the disc in return for the reward of food.)
Although the underpinnings of applied behavior analysis are present in both non-human animal and human behavior analysis and modification, animal behaviorists are able to focus on the fundamental elements of operant conditioning with their subjects. Animal behaviorists find work in shelters, farms, zoos, and in-home behavior consulting settings or private practices. Visit the Animal Behavior Society website.
Speech and Language Development and Therapy
Verbal Behavior Therapy builds upon motivation and uses positive reinforcement (in the form of rewards such as food or toys) to reinforce verbal communication in a child with developmental disabilities or impaired social or language skills. Applied behavior analysts working in speech and language therapy use ABA learning principles and techniques such as repetition, prompting, and shaping as motivation. The foundation of therapy is laid by teaching “mands,” or requests, so that the child learns that verbal communication (words) can produce desired results. Learn more about Verbal Behavior Therapy.
Careers in Experimental Behavior Analysis
As applied behavior analysis continues to grow and evolve into a well-known and widely used branch of psychology, more experimental subspecialties have cropped up that present new and exciting opportunities for Master’s in Applied Behavior Analysis degree holders. After earning a Master’s degree students can further pursue a career in Experimental Behavior Analysis by continuing their education and earning a P.h.D.
Experimental Behavior Analysis is based on B.F. Skinner’s theories of radical behaviorism. Skinner viewed all observable actions as behaviors, which can be analyzed and modified through operant conditioning. Behavioral economics, behavioral pharmacology, and behavioral toxicology are just a few of the subfields that behavior analysts can dive into. Academia and government also employ experimental behavior analysts. The overarching theme in all Experimental Behavior Analysis is, of course, experimentation. Read B.F. Skinner’s scholarly article on the experimental analysis of behavior.
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