Guest: Stephanie Keesey-Phelan PhD
Stephanie Keesey-Phelan is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and Licensed Behavior Analyst. Stephanie began working with dogs in the early 2000s, spurred on by the behavioral needs of her family’s Rottweiler, Rocky. She quickly bit by the training bug and began to work at a dog training school in her hometown, providing group and individual classes.
Stephanie earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Behavior from the University of Connecticut. While at UConn, she had a number of unique opportunities to learn about both companion and exotic animal care and training through her coursework and internships at an animal sanctuary, a zoo, and an aquarium. Stephanie has also worked as a veterinary technician assistant at an animal hospital in the greater Boston area.
In 2011, Stephanie began her formal training in behavior analysis. About halfway through her master’s program, the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) stopped accepting experience hours with animals toward certification. As a result, Stephanie began to work with people. In particular she worked with Autistic children and teens, and others with developmental disabilities. She completed her Masters Degree in Behavior Analysis in 2013 from Simmons University in Boston, MA and went on to complete her Ph.D. in Behavior Analysis in 2020 also at Simmons University. Her dissertation was centered around memory and how to teach Autistic children to report past events.
In this episode we discuss:
- What if we looked at memory as behavior?
Links Mentioned:
- Memory from a behavior analytic perspective
- Study on delayed matching-to-sample in pigeons
- Recent memory studies with dogs:
- The Dog Behavior Institute
Join Us Behind the Scenes!
Behind the Scenes is a 4 part series in which Hannah Branigan, Emelie Johnson Vegh, Eva Bertilsson, and Chirag Patel explore details and show thought processes underlying training choices.
