Behavior Analysis and Aging

Principal Investigator - Dr. Chris Walmsley

Dr. Walmsley’s research interests are broadly in Behavior Analysis, and specifically in Behavioral Gerontology. Behavior Analysis, including its applied arm, Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), is a natural science approach to human activity, with its beginnings largely informed by B.F. Skinner’s research on reinforcement. Behavioral Gerontology is a subspecialty area in Behavior Analysis and is concerned with applying the science of behavior to help older adults, and when appropriate, their caregivers, in navigating challenges they experience as they age to promote and maintain quality of life. Dr. Walmsley’s lines of research in the area of aging have included how being engaged in a structured activity impacts happiness levels, modifying a memory intervention to promote generalization, and how behavior-analytic practitioners can navigate memory care settings when expanding their scope of competency in service delivery.

Research Collaborations

    Dr. Walmsley recently established a research partnership with a local aging hub which offers services for community-dwelling older adults, and is overseeing a master’s thesis on the effects of different room layouts on attendance, communication, and happiness levels in a congregate meal setting. Stay tuned for more announcements on undergraduate research opportunities with older adults.

    How to Join

    Dr. Walmsley oversees his graduate students conduct research on a number of topics, such as mand training, functional behavior assessment, practitioner interest in Acceptance and Commitment Training in rural northern California, and evaluating behavioral skills training with video modeling to increase conversational skills through telehealth.

    Relevant coursework that helps prepare students for the lab includes PSYC 320 (Behavior Analysis) and PSYC 415 (Psychology of Aging & Older Adulthood). If students have questions about Dr. Walmsley’s research or would like to learn more about research assistant opportunities in the Behavior Analysis and Aging Lab, please contact him by email at caw709@humboldt.edu.