Catherine L. Williams

Dr. Catherine Williams is currently an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA-D) and a Licensed Behavior Analyst (LBA) in the state of North Carolina. Her expertise is in applying behavior analysis in schools to support students and teachers. She is interested in behavior analysis broadly and has conducted research with humans and non-humans in a wide range of settings. Her research is centered around connecting basic and applied behavior analysis to find the best ways of teaching so that all students learn and can use what they learn to continue to succeed.

Education

B.S. in Psychology, Georgia Tech
M.S. in Psychology- Behavior Analysis, West Virginia University
Ph.D. in Psychology- Behavior Analysis, West Virginia University
Postdoctoral Fellow in Clinical and Translational Research- Marcus Autism Center/Emory University

Specialization in Teaching

Introduction to Experimental Psychology (PSY 355)
Advanced Learning and Behavior Analysis (PSY 417)
Learning and Behavior Analysis (PSY 517)

Research Interests

-Instructional design
-Behavioral fluency
-Teaching procedures for advanced skills, such as conceptual learning and problem solving
-Human-operant research
-Public school curriculum support & research
-Stimulus equivalence
-Experimental analysis of human behavior
-Negative reinforcement & punishment contingencies
-Percentile schedules of reinforcement

Research Examples:
Imagine having to write your name with your non-dominant hand. You could probably still do it, but it’s going to be difficult and take longer. That’s how it can feels when students are first learn to do a new skill- they may be able to respond correctly, but it’s difficult and slow. We are seeing what happens when we ask students not just practice a skill outside of class until they can do it right, but practice it until they can do it quickly, too.

It can be challenging for elementary schoolers to see how to get from what they can do now to mastering a new skill. Setting achievable short-term goals for these students may help them reach long-term mastery faster. However, there are many ways to determine these goals. We are going to see which way of setting short-term goals works best for these students.

Ultimately, we want students to be able to go beyond what we teach them and apply what they learn to new things. There may be some ways to teach they facilitate application more than others. We’re asking adults to come learn something new and then seeing how well they can apply it. After we find out the best way to teach for application, we’ll try it out in a classroom!