PhD, Psychology (Behavior Analysis), West Virginia University
Advisor: K. Andy Lattal
MS, Applied Behavior Analysis, Northeastern University
Advisor: William H. Dube
ABH, Psychology, Rollins College
Advisor: Maria del Rosario Ruiz
I am a Principal Researcher in the Research Department at The New England Center for Children (NECC) in Southborough, MA, and Clinical Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Psychology at Western New England University. My work focuses on evaluating and solving problems of learning. Students in our lab conduct translational and applied research to develop practices that improve the lives of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. These translational studies (a) isolate variables and mechanisms in carefully managed settings and (b) test applications in contexts that are more similar to relevant environments, such as classrooms and homes. We also examine how cultural variables shape behavior and how our science can help foster environments in which all people can succeed. The best part of my job is mentoring graduate students as they become scientist–practitioners who use rigorous methods to make a practical difference.
PSY 620 — Experimental Analysis of Behavior
The Experimental Analysis of Behavior course covers methods, assumptions, basic principles, and recent developments in the psychology of learning from a behavior analytic perspective. The purposes of the course are to familiarize students with basic concepts in Learning that have been developed through laboratory research with both humans and animals, to provide both a theoretical framework and a language for describing these concepts, and to explore the relation between basic research in learning and the applications of these findings in human settings outside the laboratory.
PSY 506 — Evidence-Based Teaching
This course provides students with a review of empirically supported behavioral teaching procedures for individuals with autism and intellectual disabilities. Topics will focus on teaching skills in a variety of content areas such as language, social, and self-care. Procedures for teaching these include matching-to-sample discrimination training and task analysis, as well as prompting procedures including prompt fading and video modeling.
Burren, K. F., & Dickson, C. A. (in press, 2025). Matching visual stimuli: Does similarity matter? Experimental Analysis of Human Behavior Bulletin, 37, 54–70.
Burren, K. F., & Dickson, C. A. (2025). Meta‑analysis of function‑based behavioral treatment outcomes in acquired brain injury rehabilitation. Behavioral Interventions, 40(4), e70034. https://doi.org/10.1002/bin.70034
Zuchora, A., & Dickson, C. A. (2025). Measuring electrodermal activity in the context of shifting reinforcement contingencies. Experimental Analysis of Human Behavior Bulletin, 36, 59–72. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/DZNG3
Yarzebski, V., & Dickson, C. (2024). Teaching caregivers to use graduated guidance using video modeling. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 17(4), 1198–1203. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-024-00969-3
Farber, R. S., & Dickson, C. A. (2023). The classification and utility of the differential observing response. Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice, 23(3), 179–194. https://doi.org/10.1037/bar0000272
Walter, K. M., & Dickson, C. A. (2023). Response effort and resurgence. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 119(2), 373–391. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeab.835
LeBlanc, L. A., Dickson, C. A., Pilgrim, C., Ross‑Page, D., Sundberg, D. M., et al. (2023). The Women in Behavior Analysis Hall of Fame: Description and 2021 inductees. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 16(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-023-00782-4
Solano, A. S., Reeve, S. A., Reeve, K. F., DeBar, R. M., Dickson, C. A., & Milata, E. M. (2021). Comparing matrix sizes when teaching direction following to preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder. Behavioral Interventions, 36(4), 778–795. https://doi.org/10.1002/bin.1824
Milata, E. M., Reeve, S. A., Reeve, K. F., & Dickson, C. A. (2020). A blueprint for general‑case procedures illustrated by teaching adolescents with autism spectrum disorder to use a chip‑debit card. Behavioral Interventions, 35(3), 346–371. https://doi.org/10.1002/bin.1719
Soreth, M. E., Dickson, C. A., & Terry, C. M. (2017). In memoriam: Maria del Rosario Ruiz (1950–2017). The Behavior Analyst, 40(2), 553–557. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40614-017-0131-8
Farber, R. S., Dickson, C. A., & Dube, W. V. (2017). Reducing overselective stimulus control with differential observing responses. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 50(1), 87–105. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.363
Farber, R. S., Dube, W. V., & Dickson, C. A. (2016). A sorting‑to‑matching method to teach compound matching to sample. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 49(2), 294–307. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.290
MacDonald, R. P. F., Dickson, C. A., Martineau, M., & Ahearn, W. H. (2015). Prerequisite skills that support learning through video modeling. Education and Treatment of Children, 38(1), 33–47. https://doi.org/10.1353/etc.2015.0004
McKay, J. A., Weiss, J. S., Dickson, C. A., & Ahearn, W. H. (2014). Comparison of prompting hierarchies on the acquisition of leisure and vocational skills. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 7(2), 91–102. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-014-0022-3
Dickson, C. A., MacDonald, R. P. F., Mansfield, R., Guilhardi, P., Johnson, C., et al. (2014). Social validation of the New England Center for Children–Core Skills Assessment. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 44(1), 65–74. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-013-1852-5
Kuroda, T., Cançado, C. R. X., Lattal, K. A., Elcoro, M., Dickson, C. A., & Cook, J. E. (2013). Combinations of response–reinforcer relations in periodic and aperiodic schedules. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 99(2), 199–210. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeab.13
Dube, W. V., Dickson, C. A., Balsamo, L. M., O’Donnell, K. L., Tomanari, G. Y., et al. (2010). Observing behavior and atypically restricted stimulus control. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 94(3), 297–313. https://doi.org/10.1901/jeab.2010.94-297
Dickson, C. A., Wang, S. S., Lombard, K. M., & Dube, W. V. (2006). Overselective stimulus control in residential students with intellectual disabilities. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 27(6), 618–631. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2005.07.004
Dickson, C. A., Deutsch, C. K., Wang, S. S., & Dube, W. V. (2006). Matching-to-sample assessment of stimulus overselectivity in students with intellectual disabilities. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 111(6), 447–453. https://doi.org/10.1352/0895-8017(2006)111[447:MAOSOI]2.0.CO;2
Dube, W. V., Balsamo, L. M., Fowler, T. R., Dickson, C. A., Lombard, K. M., & Tomanari, G. Y. (2006). Observing behavior topography in delayed matching to multiple samples. The Psychological Record, 56(2), 233–244. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03395547
