Dr. Michael Cameron explains that matching a client with a role model of similar gender or ethnicity has no empirical support. Instead, behavior analysts should give clients control by offering multiple intervention options and letting them choose, which reduces anxiety and improves outcomes.
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Is there any research or do you have any hypotheses as to when it comes to would it— would a— with a Native American male more better respond to a Native American male role model when it comes to imitation and things like that, when it comes to gender, ethnicity, and such?
It comes right back to personal choice. Okay. Preference, because you'd be surprised that a person—
There isn't any support to the similarity of that person yet or anything like that?
I've read it in literature. It hasn't been scientifically based, you know, it's not data-based.
That's where I think I was not sure where I was going with that, if it was evidence-based or just stuff I've read.
It's been more opinion, and that's exact language that's used too, that the most effective model is going to be one with similarity. The most effective model is going to be one that is valued by the individual.
When it comes to similarity, one might infer—
You would.
That the closer they are to how they look like the individual, then more likely they are to respond and imitate. But that's just speculation.
It's speculation. It's the antithesis of behavior analysis as well, because behavior analysis is all about individualization, and it's about choice and control. You know, so we give the person choice. We make no assumptions, and we just ask the question, who's going to be best for you, you know, as a particular model? And depending on what skill the person is learning, it can be variation in terms of who that individual is, that there is their model.
You think about it, it's so basic, and the principle—
yeah, it is—
people wanting choice. I mean, it's sort of like if you're, if you're, if you're in one of these talks and someone's— someone has locked you in there and they're saying you can't go to the bathroom, you would start probably having some kind of response that's unpleasant and undesirable. But if, if you know you can leave and go to the bathroom anytime you want or get up and get a glass of water, you're probably less likely to have anxiety or something like that. Yes, just makes sense.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Something that you're saying really brings up an article that I just re-reviewed at USC, and it was an article by Greg Hanley, and he's talking about social validity. And he's, he's interested in this particular article in terms of the options that a person has for treatment intervention. And what he discusses in this particular article on social validity is is that you expose the individual to multiple treatment methods. So Brett, I can manage some behavior change with you, and we can do it this way, or this second way, or this third way. So I'm gonna give you exposure to all three ways, and then you're gonna tell me which method is gonna be most preferred for you, because that's a method that I'm gonna use. Because in behavior analysis, the good behavior analyst has many, many ways ways of solving a problem. And you have to have that depth so that you bring the solution to the contextual circumstances and to the individual. So you should be able to give that person options.
So the intervention may still be function-based, but it's—
That's right.
Here are 3 different topographies that are 3 different ways of—
3 different ways.
Methods or systems you can use to get at that function.
Yeah.
That's incredible, man.
And not to make a— a deliberate tieback, but I will. And this is why decision modeling is so critical, is because a clinician, in thinking about a treatment direction for an individual, needs to be reminded that from a social validity standpoint, that we've got these great recommendations by some pretty brilliant people in our field. Take that recommendation and integrate it right into your decision-making at this point. Give that person a few different options. It'd be like me saying, Brett, you know, I want Do you want to increase your exercise? And we can do this in multiple different ways. You know, I can, I can focus on the cardiovascular, or I can focus on strength training, or I can focus on flexibility training, or I can have some hybrid of all three. What's your preference in terms of the way we do this? And then your choice and your selection is going to be connected to your level of adherence.
