Students and faculty from the Applied Behavior Analysis program attended the Florida Association for Behavior Analysis Conference (CoFABA) on April 24 in Tampa.
The conference, which marked its 10th anniversary, welcomed students, faculty, clinicians and researchers from across Florida to hear presentations and view posters on ongoing research in applied behavior analysis.
Doctoral student Arturo Garcia, MA, BCBA, presenting at CoFABA. Garcia was an invited presenter and shared his ongoing research in underserved populations.
Doctoral student Arturo Garcia, MA, BCBA, was invited to present. He said he was honored by the invitation and appreciated the opportunity to share his research with approximately 250 attendees.
“Being invited to present was a great honor, especially because this year marked their 10th anniversary and the theme focused on the future of our field,” Garcia said. “The opportunity allowed me to highlight the work being done with underserved and system-involved populations and to show what responsible, science-based support can look like in practice.”
Garcia’s presentation, “Integrating Applied Research and Clinical Practice in Underserved and System-Involved Populations,” also served as preparation for future speaking engagements.
“This experience provided me with an opportunity to sharpen my dissemination skills, particularly in communicating complex, practice-based work,” he said. “I took this opportunity very seriously and appreciated the chance to contribute to a broader conversation about how our field can better serve communities that are often overlooked.”
Catia Cividini-Motta and Zachary Crutchfield with their research poster, "Addressing Antecedent Exercise Treatment Failures with Contingent Reinforcement and Self-Monitoring," at the conference.
In addition to Garcia’s presentation, several graduate students — including a first-year Master of Science student — participated in the poster session. Assistant Professor Paige Talhelm, PhD, BCBA-D, emphasized the value of the experience.
“Events like CoFABA are a valuable opportunity for our students to share their work, connect with clinicians and researchers across Florida, and engage directly with our local Tampa Bay ABA community,” Talhelm said.
The program highlighted the strong representation of its students and faculty at the conference.
“I’m very proud of all our students who were invited to present — it’s a clear reflection of their hard work and the strong representation the USF ABA program had at CoFABA,” Talhelm said.
Below is the list of the poster presentations:
| Presentation title | Authors |
|---|---|
| Evaluating the Effectiveness of an Automated Feedback Tool on Speech Disfluencies | Melissa Medlin; Gabby Drew; Anthony Concepcion, PhD, BCBA-D; and Paige Talhelm, PhD, BCBA-D |
| Addressing Antecedent Exercise Treatment Failures with Contingent Reinforcement and Self-Monitoring | Zachary Crutchfield, RBT; and Catia Cividini-Motta, PhD, BCBA-D |
| Assessing the Social Validity of Various Supervision Modalities | Stephanie Howell and Raymond Miltenberger, PhD, BCBA-D |
| What Predicts Success for Survivors of Human Trafficking? A Preliminary Housing Program Evaluation | Marissa Del Vecchio, MS, BCBA; Arturo Garcia, MA, BCBA; Kimberly Crosland, PhD, BCBA-D; Shelly Wagers, PhD; and Marqueline Cenatus, MS, BCBА |
| Caregiver-Implemented Functional Analysis of Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity of Children | Authors: Rachel Riccardo, BS, BCaBA, and Heather Zerger, PhD, BCBA-D |
| Teaching Safety Skills to Children | Prerana Atreya, Marlesha Bell and Kezia Setiawan |
| Peer-Mediated Self-Monitoring and Differential Reinforcement: Effects on Classroom Behavior in Children with Disabilities | Ty Castillo; Kwang-Sun Cho Blair, PhD, BCBA-D; and Madeline Risse |
| The ePTR Coach Model for School-Based Support of Children with Challenging Behavior: Development and Initial Implementation | Kwang-Sun Cho Blair, PhD, BCBA-D; Kimberly Crosland, PhD, BCBA-D; Catia Cividini-Motta, PhD, BCBA-D; Rose Iovannone, PhD; Elizabeth Cassell; Krystal McFee, MA, BCBA; and Ruby Joseph, MPA |
| "Every day Counts": Behavior Analysis in A Stepped-Care Approach for Improving School Attendance | Kimberly Crosland, PhD, BCBA-D; Rachel Giovagnoli; Augustina Otero; Karen Michel and Rose Iovannone, PhD |
| Project ISEBA: Interdisciplinary Training and Scholarships for Graduate Students in ABA and Special Education | Catia Cividini-Motta, PhD, BCBA-D; Kwang-Sun Blair, PhD, BCBA-D; Kimberly Crosland, PhD, BCBA-D; and Elizabeth Doone, PhD |