Prof. emer., PhD

Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA

Picturing and Understanding Behavior: Where we have been, Where we can go

Abstract: The last several decades have seen remarkable advances in our ability to capture the behavior we seek to understand, to view and review it repeatedly, and to apply sophisticated numerical and pictorial methods in attempts to gain a deeper appreciation of how it is structured. My talk will review this history, reconsider its major milestones, appreciate how they have promoted deeper understanding presently, and suggest future challenges for behavioral science. 

Related publications: 

Adamson, L.B., Bakeman, R., Deckner, D.F. & Nelson, P.B. (in press): From interactions to conversations: The development of joint engagement during early childhood. Child development.

Adamson, L.B., Bakeman, R., Deckner, D.F. & Nelson, P.B. (2012): Rating parent - child interactions: joint engagement, communication dynamics and shared topics in autism, down syndrome, and typical development. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 42, 2622-2635. 

Adamson, L.B., Bakeman, R., Deckner, D.F. & Romski, M.A. (2009): Joint engagement and the emergence of language in children with autism and down syndrome. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 39, 84-96.

Bakeman, R. & Quera, V. (2011): Sequential analysis and observational methods for the behavioral sciences. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Bard, K.A., Bakeman, R., Boysen, S.T. & Leavens, D.A. (in press): Emotional engagements predict and enhance social cognition in young chimpanzees. Developmental Science. 

Li, J., Fung, H., Bakeman, R., Rae, K. & Wei, W. (in press): How European American and Taiwanese mothers talk to their children about learning: A sequential analysis. Child Development.

Oller, D.K., Buder, E.H., Ramsdell, H.L., Warlaumont, A.S. & Bakeman, R. (2013): Functional flexibility of infant vocalization and the emergence of language. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. 110, 6318-6323.  

Short Biography: Running throughout my work is a concern with social interaction: how is is observed, how it is described, and how it is analyzed. With Lauren B. Adamson I have observed and continue to observe infants and toddlers interacting with their mothers to study how such infants communicate, and how joint attention is transformed - before and as formal language is acquired in typically developing toddlers and toddlers with autism and down syndrome. With Josephine V. Brown I have observed preterm and fullterm infants and mothers interacting and have studied effects of early interaction patterns on subsequent development. With John M. Gottman I have written a book, explaining procedural and analytic strategies for observational studies in general. And with Vincenc Quera I have written articles, books, and computer programs that explore specific analytic strategies for the sequential analysis of systematic observational data. 

I have also worked with a number of colleagues, analyzing archives of interview, self-report, medical, and other data, primarly related to health concerns, including AIDS: with John Peterson (GSU) analyzing effects of stress, coping, HIV status, psychosocial resources, and depressive mood in African American gay, bisexual, and heterosexual men; with Michael Compton (formerly Emory School of Medicine; now Lenox Hill Hospital) analyzing effects of mental health awareness training (CIT, crisis intervention team) on police officers; with Kim Bard (formerly Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Atlanta; now University of Portsmouth, UK) analyzing emotional engagement and social cognition in young chimpanzees; with Jin Li (Brown University) analyzing how European American and Taiwanese mothers talk to their children about learning; and with Kim Oller (University of Memphis and Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Altenberg, Austria) analyzing functional flexibility of infant vocalization and the emergence of language. 

At the undergraduate level, I have taught developmental psychology and psychological statistics, and at the graduate level, I have taught courses in statistical analysis including multiple and logistic regression and structural equation modeling, and developmental and observational methods.

Read more about the Sequential Data Analysis Program GSEQ (Generalized Sequential Querier), developed by Roger Bakeman (Georgia State University) and Vicenc Quera (University of Barcelona).