Call for Nominations

Faculty and Professional Awards – Clinical Supervisor in Verbal Behavior Award

DEADLINE EXTENDED: Wednesday, April 26, 2023

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2023 Clinical Supervisor in Verbal Behavior Award. This award was established to recognize outstanding supervision in clinical and practical applications of verbal behavior. One individual who exemplifies outstanding dedication to training and mentoring the next generation of skilled clinicians will be recognized.

Eligible nominees are:

Master and Doctoral level supervisors.
Supervising clinicians who are implementing assessment and treatment based on Skinner’s analysis of verbal behavior.

To nominate someone for this award, send the nominee’s name, email, and affiliation along with a 1-page letter highlighting:

The specific role the individual has played in the mentorship of student and junior clinicians whose practice involves clinical applications to promote verbal behavior.
The characteristics of the individual’s behavior exemplify outstanding supervision in clinical practice.

Nominees will be notified and asked to submit a one-page personal statement highlighting their clinical supervision activities.

Only nominations accompanied with a nomination letter will be considered. Nomination letters should be no longer than one page. Nominations must be received by Monday, March 2023. Send nominations to: thevibsig@gmail.com. In the subject line please include: “Attn: Professional Awards Coordinator”

Notification of award status will be no later than Wednesday, May 3, 2023 and the winner will be announced at the VB-SIG business meeting at the Annual Association for Behavior Analysis and will receive a plaque.

Guidelines for decisions:

Nominations are received by the Faculty and Professional Awards Coordinator and reviewed to determine that the individual meets the eligibility requirements.
The Faculty and Professional Awards Coordinator will select a Voting Committee consisting of a panel of 5 master and doctoral-level experts.
Nominations are reviewed, discussed, and with the aid of a scoring rubric, voted on by the panel.

Student Research Grant

Verbal Behavior Special Interest Group (VB SIG)

DUE: Monday, March 20, 2023

The VB SIG Student Research Grant Award provides monetary support to conduct research projects in verbal behavior led by a graduate or undergraduate student. Due to the ongoing challenges associated with conducting empirical research studies, for 2023, conceptual papers, tutorials, and meta-analyses, as well as empirical research projects will be considered. Eligible proposals may be relevant to any topic in verbal behavior (e.g., private events, rule-governed behavior, assessment, second language acquisition, primary or secondary verbal operants) and may include work with non-human animals.

A maximum of $400 may be requested to cover research-related expenses. Typically, the three highest ranked proposals are awarded $300, $200, and $100. Awards will be announced, and plaques and grant funds will be distributed at the VB SIG business meeting during the 2023 ABAI conference. All award winners will be asked to present in the VB SIG symposium at ABAI 2024.

Proposal Format

Cover Page: Include title, affiliation, author (mailing address, email, phone number) and advisor/faculty mentor (office address, email, phone number).
Project Plan (1-3 double-spaced pages MAX; do not include author name in document)
1. Specific Aims/Purpose: Include a clear statement of the work to be undertaken. List specific objectives and describe concisely and realistically what the specific work described in the proposal is intended to accomplish.
2. Project Design and Methods: Outline the general plan of work, including the activities to be undertaken to accomplish the aims outlined above and a description of the method.
Timeline: Briefly describe a proposed timeline for completion of the project.
Budget: Briefly describe the resources needed to complete this project including the total amount you are requesting to meet those needs.
Letter of support: Request a letter of support from your advisor or research supervisor. This can be sent along with your proposal or directly from your advisor. We are NOT asking for a letter of recommendation, rather a simple statement confirming your status as a full-time student and principal investigator on the project.

Proposals submitted without any one of the criteria listed above will not be reviewed. The proposals will be blindly reviewed by a panel of experts in verbal behavior using the criteria outlined above.

Final Report

If you are awarded a grant, you must submit evidence of project completion to the grant coordinator by April 1, 2024. This evidence may be in the form of a brief report, copies of conference presentations, and/or publications. This accountability requirement ensures the awardee has accomplished what was promised in the proposal. As a professional courtesy, any publications or presentations resulting from funded projects should include a statement acknowledging the support provided by the VB SIG.

Please send submissions electronically in Microsoft Word format to: thevbsig@gmail.com. In the subject line please include: “Attn: Student Grant Coordinator”

Notification of award status will be no later than Wednesday May 3, 2023.

Best of luck to all the student researchers who submit a proposal!

Notification of award status will be no later than Wednesday May 3, 2023.

Best of luck to all student researchers who submit a verbal behavior paper!

Student Paper Competition

Verbal Behavior Special Interest Group (VB SIG)

DUE: Monday, March 20, 2023

The VB SIG Student Paper Competition provides monetary awards for research papers in verbal behavior led by a graduate or undergraduate student. A submitted paper must be original research/work in the area of verbal behavior with an undergraduate or graduate student as the first author. Due to the ongoing challenges associated with conducting empirical research studies, for 2023, conceptual papers, tutorials, and meta-analyses, as well as empirical research projects will be considered.

Submissions are restricted to current students or individuals within one year of graduating from the school in which they conducted the research. There is a limit of one paper per student. Note that this competition is for papers that have not yet been published or accepted for publication. However, you may submit papers that have been submitted for publication but have not (yet) received final acceptance.

Eligible proposals may be relevant to any topic in verbal behavior (e.g., private events, rule -governed behavior, assessment, second language acquisition, primary or secondary verbal operants) and may include work with non-human animals.

Submissions will be blindly reviewed by advanced verbal behavior researchers and scholars. The reviewers typically identify the top three papers. Awards for these papers will be announced, and plaques and monetary prizes will be distributed at the VB SIG business meeting during the 2023 ABAI conference. All award winners will be asked to present in the VB SIG symposium at ABAI 2024.

Proposal Format

Cover Page: Include title, affiliation, author (mailing address, email, phone number) and advisor/faculty mentor (office address, email, phone number).
Unpublished Manuscript: Submissions must be double spaced and be submitted without the author’s name or affiliation. Submissions must adhere to APA publication guidelines and must not exceed 30 pages, not including references and figures. References and figures must not exceed 15 pages.
Letter of Verification: The student’s research advisor must send an email to the address below verifying that the student was responsible for the vast majority of the work.
Please submit a blinded version of the paper separate from the title page.

Please send questions, submissions, contact information, and advisor emails to: thevbsig@gmail.com. In the subject line please include: “Attn: Research Competition Coordinator”

Notification of award status will be no later than Wednesday May 3, 2023.

Best of luck to all student researchers who submit a verbal behavior paper!