A Sacramento State graduate psychology student’s hard work paid off in January when she was awarded the B.F. Skinner Scholarship for her ongoing thesis work.

Lesley Macpherson, who has a concentration in behavior analysis, applied for the scholarship in December. The scholarship is for $500 to aid with work on her thesis, “The Effects of Response Interruption and Redirection on Vocal and Motor Stereotypy.”

“Stereotypy or self-stimulatory behaviors are commonly noted as a major difficulty in autism interventions. Her research should help better refine applied behavior analysis’s methodology in targeting these problematic behaviors,” said last years B.F. Skinner award winner and Sac State behavior analysis graduate student Jared Coon.

“I think people were surprised that we won it in two years in a row,” said Caio Miguel, psychology professor and thesis adviser. “That says something about the quality of research coming out of Sac State.”

Vissy Kobari, graduate psychology student, is Macpherson’s colleague and friend.

“I was very excited and proud of her when she won,” Kobari said. “Her study is pretty awesome. She had a strong chance of winning.”

Five scholarships were awarded for behavior analysis research from the B.F. Skinner Foundation. They are divided up regionally throughout the country, said foundation president Julie S. Vargas. The scholarships are then distributed by local behavior analysis organizations.

The B.F. Skinner Scholarship is given to the best research proposal submitted. Submissions are made from most California State University campuses and some University of California campuses that offer Behavioral analysis programs. A four-person panel from the California Association for Behavior Analysis evaluates each proposal for the California chapter of the scholarship, Miguel said.

She has presented her research to top behavior analysis organizations such as the Nevada Association for Behavior Analysis and the California Association for Behavior Analysis.

“I think it’s huge for Sac State that so many students have submitted work to the conferences, not just in the one California but the national conferences and the Nevada ones.” Kobari said.

Cahil Bhanji can be reached at [email protected].