A Preliminary Assessment of the Qualities and Behaviors of Exemplary Behavior Analysts

What makes an individual an exemplary behavior analyst? Given our profession’s focus on objective definition, description, quantification, and experimentation, we should be well-prepared to answer this question. While articles concerning the factors involved in high-quality behavior analytic practitioner training programs (e.g., Ahearn, Green, Riordan, Weatherly, 2015; Critchfield, 2015; Dixon, Reed, Smith, Belisle, & Jackson, 2015) have certainly led the discussion, there is a deficit in the subsequent literature that describes the characteristics that make behavior analysts outstanding in their field. In their work, 25 Essential Skills and Strategies for the Professional Behavior Analyst, Bailey and Burch (2009) laid the groundwork by examining the characteristics of effective ABA consultants. However, no empirical research to-date has examined what behavior analysts believe are the characteristics and corresponding behaviors that are displayed by the field’s most exemplary practitioners. The current study was designed to provide a preliminary assessment of these characteristics and behavior