Maryland Association for Behavior Analysis
annual meeting
The 12th Annual Maryland Association for Behavior Analysis Conference will be held on Friday, December 4, 2009 in Baltimore, Maryland. For more information,
click here.

iconResearch Participation

The following behavior analytic studies are currently recruiting participants:

Volunteers Ages 4 to 17 Needed For Research Study

Researchers at the Kennedy Krieger Institute are looking for children with autism or mental retardation to participate in research. This research studies the behaviors used by children to adapt to changes occurring in their environments.

There are no medical benefits or significant risks for joining the study.

A 10-minute telephone screening process will be conducted with parents to assess child eligibility. If eligible, children will be asked to participate in 3 to 5 2-hour visits and will receive $20 for each visit.

For more information, please contact Lisa Toole, M.A. or Eric Boelter, Ph.D. at (443) 923-9535

Principal Investigator: Louis Hagopian, Ph.D., Kennedy Krieger Institute
Approved 03/20/2008
IRB # NA_00012639


Temporal Discounting in Obese/Overweight Children

We are currently looking for children to participate in a research study to help us learn how children who are at risk for becoming overweight/obese make choices regarding food. We would like to compare their choices to those of children who are not overweight or obese. Both overweight and non-overweight children aged 8-12 are invited to participate. Participants will be asked to answer questions on a computer regarding their choices between different amounts of food given at different times. Children will not be given any food during this study. Participation will require a 1-hour visit to the Kennedy Krieger Institute. There are no medical risks or individual benefits for participating. Parking will be provided free of charge. Children who complete the study will receive a $25 gift card to Toys R Us for their participation.

For more information, please contact Nicole Hausman at 443-293-2849 or hausman@kennedykrieger.org.

Principal Investigator: SungWoo Kahng, Ph.D., BCBA John's Hopkins
Approval Date: 02/21/2008
IRB # NA_00010633


Does your child try to hurt him or herself?

Some children bang their heads, hit themselves, pull their hair, or do other things that look like they are trying to hurt themselves. Usually these behaviors go away, but they could be a sign of a serious behavior disorder known as self-injury. Kennedy Krieger researchers are conducting a study to learn why these behaviors continue for some children and go away for others. They wish to develop prevention and early intervention programs to limit self-injury. If you are the legal guardian of a child aged five years or younger who engages in behaviors that may look like self-injury, you and your child may be eligible to participate in this study. If you qualify, you and your child will participate in several two-part developmental and behavioral evaluations over a two-year period. In Part 1 of each evaluation, you will be asked to complete questionnaires, and Kennedy Krieger’s Departments of Behavioral Psychology and Neuropsychology will conduct interviews and developmental/language questionnaires testing of your child. In Part 2, home observations of your child’s behavior with you will be completed. Each child will receive free developmental and language testing and a toy, and parents will receive $35 compensation for each two-part evaluation.

For more information, contact Michelle Chin, M.S. at 443-923-2892 or via email at chin@kennedykrieger.org.

Principal Investigator: Patricia Kurtz, Ph.D. Kennedy Krieger Institute




If you are interested in listing your study, please contact SungWoo Kahng.