At my first professional job in 1995, the company asked me to do an introductory training on applied behavior analysis. I put together a presentation, but wasn’t very happy with how it went. So, I immediately set out on a process of Poogi. Even after leaving that position, I continued to give and improve my presentation. On post-tests, I started demonstrating good learning outcomes and high social validity from staff who completed it.
Often, I’d start the training by explaining the first version was conducted in 1995. Where were you in 1995? In later years, I started to hear people in the training were not yet born in 1995. Not only that, they couldn’t relate to examples that involved record players, VCRs, or having missed a television show that aired at a specific time.
When working with young children, a good teacher is usually silly and dramatic. Young children tend to love that. For years, we used to use the phrase “Ham it up.” This is a somewhat old-fashioned phrase that means acting exaggerated and dramatic. Unfortunately, multiple staff in later years thought I was referring to a rather inappropriate internet slang term.
It is necessary to change with the times. When giving trainings I had to change the examples used. But now, I don’t usually give introductory trainings any longer as most staff get their intro training through online resources. Still trying to remember not to say, “Ham it up.”
Of course, BCBAs know that if something works (i.e., is reinforced) we tend to do it again. If it stops working (i.e., is no longer reinforced) we tend to stop. But when language gets involved (e.g., I have an effective intro training I’ve been giving for years), sometimes those real-world effects don’t work as well as they should. Just because something used to be effective doesn’t mean outside factors won’t change that. It is necessary to continuously evaluate in order to POOGI.