A Preliminary Investigation of a Tool to Measure BCBA Supervisory Behaviors

Board certified behavior analysts (BCBAs) are in high demand. However, given the fast growth of the field, most behavior analysts who serve as supervisors have recently been certified and thus, have had limited opportunities to refine their supervisory repertoires. Although supervision best practices have been a topic of frequent discussion in behavior analytic publications, little research has been conducted to empirically assess these recommendations with BCBA supervisors. One reason for the lack of research may be due to the scarcity of a method to systematically identify and measure supervisory behaviors. The Operant Supervisory Taxonomy and Index (OSTI; Komaki, 1986Journal of Applied Psychology, 71(2), 270-279, 1998) was developed to identify and categorize supervisory behaviors of effective supervisors in organizational settings. To demonstrate the feasibility of the OSTI with BCBA supervision, this study applied the OSTI with two masters-level students completing a verified course sequence (VCS) as a part of pursing their BCBA credential. Future directions for research and application of the OSTI as a measurement framework for BCBA supervisory behavior and behavior analytic training are discussed.