Mary Jane Weiss
Profile
Mary Jane Weiss, Ph.D., BCBA-D, LABA specializes in the science of applied behavior analysis (ABA) and its application to human problems, especially autism. She serves as the executive director of programs in ABA and autism, and as director of the Ph.D. program in ABA. She is especially passionate about the philosophical and scientific foundations of ABA, ethical decision making in the context of professional practice, and collaboration across disciplines.
Education
Rutgers University
Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology
1990
Rutgers University
Master of Science in Psychology
1987
Marquette University
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology
1984
Research
I am interested in identifying best practices in ABA, both in instructional practices for skill acquisition and in the reduction of challenging behaviors. I am interested in how social skills can be taught to individuals with autism. I am also interested in effective staff training and in developing more effective parent-professional partnerships. I have a long-term interest in ethical practice, and am working on methods to develop ethical decision making skills. I am also very interested in effectively teaching soft skills; in particular, I am researching how to foster collaboration skills and cultural humility among behavior analysts.
Courses
Behaviorism and the Philosophy of Science (ABA 705)
Professional and Ethical Issues in ABA (ABA 720)
Ethical Issues in ABA (ABA 565)
Effective Collaboration (ABA 578)
Accomplishments
Appearances
- Board of Advisors Member, Cambridge Center for Behavioral Sciences (since 2015)
Member of Executive Council and Past President, Autism Special Interest Group, Association for Behavior Analysis International (since 2005)
- Scientific Council Member, Organization for Autism Research 2010-present
Publications
- Weiss, M. J., & Russo, S., Melton, I., & Giles, M., & Southwick, J. (2019). Data collection methods for speech and language pathologists: How ABA and SLP’s can collaborate to collect more meaningful data. In J. Gerenser and M. Koenig (Eds.), The SLP Guide to ABA: Principles to Support Inter-Professional Collaboration on Autism Support Teams. Baltimore: Brookes.
- Weiss, M.J. (2018). The concept of the scientist practitioner and its extension to behavior analysis. Education and Treatment of Children,3, 385-394.
- LaFrance, D.L., Kazemi, E., Weiss, M.J., Gerenser, J. & Dobres, J. (2019). The importance of recognizing the unique contributions of each professional in a multidisciplinary team. Behavior Analysis in Practice.