Beehive Learning

The increase in demand for behavior analysts in recent years has also increased the importance of effective supervision practices in the field of behavior analysis. A critical supervisory skill is performance feedback, which entails proficiency with two distinct, yet inseparable repertoires of technical and nontechnical skills. Supervisors report never receiving explicit training in feedback and graduate training programs provide little to no training in nontechnical skills. As with any skill, to develop proficiency with feedback delivery and reception, trainees may require ample practice opportunities. One mechanism to provide trainees routine practice opportunities is to use peers as behavior change agents and peer feedback as an instructional method. The utility of peer feedback has been recognized in the organizational behavior management literature and has been used successfully in medical student training and evaluation for several decades. In the context of behavior analytic training and supervision, peer feedback has yet to be established as a training method. Similarities in the behavioral and medical fields make the medical field a good model from which behavior analysts can learn. Using peer feedback in training and supervision for behavior analysts may provide trainees with similar benefits to those reported in medical student training literature.