Research connections
Dr Carl Hughes - Bangor University
Dr Carl Hughes is a Senior Behaviour Analyst at the School of Psychology, Bangor University, and Director of the MSc in Applied Behaviour Analysis course. He is a Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA). He obtained his PhD in behaviour analysis and verbal behaviour in 2000, following which he took a Teaching Fellow at the Department of Psychology teaching behaviour analysis to undergraduate and postgraduate psychology students.
In 2003 he and his colleague, Dr Steve Noone, started the first MSc programme in Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) in Europe. The course was also the first course in Europe to be accredited by the Behavior Analysis Certification Board (BCBA), as providing students with the full course content eligibility to sit the Board Certified Behavior Analyst examination. The programme now enrols between 20 and 30 students each year.
In 1999 Dr Hughes took over the organisation of the Experimental Analysis of Behaviour Group, UK and Europe (EABG). The EABG is the longest standing organisation devoted to behaviour analysis in the UK and runs conferences in London. Dr Hughes has been running the EABG and organising the London conferences since 1998; in 2006 he took over as Chair of the EABG. In 2001 he was one of the founder members of the European Association of Behaviour Analysis (EABA), an organisation that aims to promote the dissemination and training in behaviour analysis across Europe. He is a member of the Association for Behavior Analysis, International. He has published research papers in the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (JEAB) and the European Journal of Behavior Analysis. He is a reviewer for the European Journal of Behavior Analysis (EJOBA). In 2007 he was invited by the Behavior Analysis Certification Board to be the international representative on the special Task Force on professional disciplinary guidelines.
His research interests in the last few years have been broadly focused on educational applications of behaviour analysis and more specifically in the use of Precision Teaching in mainstream schools with children who are not thriving academically and within early autism behavioural interventions. Dr Hughes has conducted training in the UK, Poland, Italy, Norway, Spain, and Ireland in Evidence Based approaches to education, Precision Teaching, and Direct Instruction. His research is now focused on improving basic skills education in mainstream schools, effective reading instruction for schools and parents, the use of Precision Teaching in mainstream schools with children who are not thriving academically, and the application of these approaches within early autism interventions.
Research at Highfield: School of Psychology, Bangor University
The priority at Highfield is effective service delivery. However, we also recognise the importance of conducting and supporting research into effective autism treatments. In this endeavour we have developed a close relationship and a research affiliation with the School of Psychology at Bangor University, North Wales.
During the past few years the School of Psychology at Bangor has grown remarkably, recruiting internationally recognised scientists from around the globe. In the recent UK-wide Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), it was among only six other psychology departments in the UK awarded both a top rating of 5*A (on a scale of 1-5*) and the highest "Excellent" rating in the Government's Teaching Quality Assessment (TQA).
Since its inception, the Psychology department at Bangor has been recognised as a European centre for the study of behaviour analysis; the School currently has the largest team of BCBA Board Certified behaviour analysts in any University or centre in Europe. The research interests of the staff span both basic and applied issues including staff training, application of behaviour analysis to education, developmental disabilities, Active Support Model, ADHD, food preferences, health related behaviours, early imitation, Early Intensive Behavioural Interventions for children with autism, and language development. In addition to a strong academic staff base, many of the behavioural staff are clinical practitioners.
