Department of Psychology: academic staff

Office Rm. 221, St. Anthony's
Telephone (+353) 091 493434
E-mail geraldine.leadernuigalway.ie

Dr. Geraldine Leader BA PhD.

Dr. Geraldine Leader is Course Director of the M.Sc.and structured Ph.D programmes in Applied Behaviour Analysis. The M.S.c was launched in 2006 to meet the growing need for practitioners who can work effectively within systems to improve the quality of services in the fields of intellectual and developmental disabilities, education, rehabilitation and mental health. The structured PhD is the first of its kind outside North America. Graduate are prepared to work in the full spectrum of applied, research and academic settings. Geraldine was the founding chair of the Division of Behaviour Analysis in the Psychological Society of Ireland (PsSI) and is also a member of the International Association for Behaiour Analysis (ABA) and the European Association of Behaviour Analysis (EABA).

Research Interests

Geraldine’s primary research interest lies in the field of Applied Behaviour Analysis. She is currently involved in the following research streams:

• an investigation of evidence-based treatments and non-scientific practices in the treatment of autism spectrum disorder;
• behavioural procedures to increase socially significant behaviour;
• behavioural procedures to decrease and eliminate challenging behaviour;
• longitudinal investigations of the effectiveness of applied behaviour analysis in the education and treatment of children with developmental disorders;
• large scale Irish studies to inform policy makers in the area of service design and appropriate intervention;
• an investigation and remediation of stimulus over-selectivity in autism spectrum disorder.

Publications

• Reed, P., Broomfield, L., McHugh, L., McCausland, A., & Leader, G. (2009). Extinction of over-selected stimuli causes emergence of under-selected cues in higher-functioning children with autistic spectrum disorders. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 39, (2), 290-8
• Devlin, S., Leader, G., & Healy, O. (2009). Comparison of behavioral intervention and sensory-integration therapy in the treatment of self-injurious behaviour. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders 3, 223-231.
• Grey I., Healy O., Leader, G., & Hayes, D (2009). Using a TIME TIMER® to increase appropriate waiting behavior in a child with developmental disabilities. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 30, 359-366.
• Murphy, O., Healy, O., & Leader, G., (2009). Risk factors for challenging behaviour for 157 children with autism spectrum disorder in Ireland. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 3, 474-482
• McGarrell, M., Healy, O., Leader, G., O’ Connor, J., & Kenny, N. (2009). Six reports of children with autism spectrum disorder following intensive behavioural intervention using the Preschool Inventory of Repertoires for Kindergarten (PIRK®). Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders (in press).
• Leader, G. Loughnane, A., McMoreland, C., & Reed, P. (2009). The effects of stimulus salience on overselectivity. Journal of Autism & Developmental (in press)
• Devlin, S., Healy, O., Leader, G. & Reed, P. (2008). The analysis and treatment of problem behaviour evoked by auditory stimulation. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders 2, 671-680
• Lydon, H., Healy, O., Leader, G., & Keohane, D.D., (2008). The effects of intensive tact instruction on three verbal operants in non-instructional settings by two children with autism. Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Applied Behavior Analysis, Special Issue, 35-46.
• Healy, O., Leader, G., O’ Connor, J., & Kenny, N. (2008). Three years of intensive applied behavior analysis: A case study. Journal of Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention, 4-22.
• Leader, G., Healy, O. & O’ Connor, J. (2008). Early intensive behavioural intervention in the treatment of autism. In P. Reed & Osborne, L. (Eds.) Behavioral Theories and Interventions for Autism. Arnold: London
• Truzoli, R., Leader, G., & Read, P. (2007). Behaviour Analysis in Europe: Proceedings of the Third European Association for Behaviour Analysis Conference. Edited Volume. Milan: University of Milan Press.
• Healy, O., Leader, G., Honan, R., Leslie, J. & Cullinan, V. (2007). Statistical Outcomes and Best Practice: A Reply. The Irish Psychologist
• Barnes-Holmes, D., Barnes_Holmes, Y., Smeets, P. M., Cullinan, V., & Leader, G. (2004). Relational frame theory and stimulus equivalence: Conceptual and procedural issues. International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy, 4, 181-214
• Leader, G. & Barnes-Holmes, D. (2001). Matching-to-sample and respondent-type training as methods for producing equivalence relations: Isolating the critical variable. The Psychological Record, 51, 429-444.
• Leader, G. & Barnes-Holmes, D. (2001). Establishing fraction-decimal equivalence using a respondent-type training procedure. The Psychological Record, 51, 151-165.
• Leader, G. & Barnes-Holmes, D. (2000). Establishing equivalence relations using a respondent type training procedure III. The Psychological Record, 50, 63-78.
• Smeets, P. M., Leader, G. & Barnes, D. (1997). Establishing stimulus classes in adults and children using a respondent-type training procedure: A follow-up study. The Psychological Record, 47, 285-308.
• Leader, G., Barnes, D. & Smeets, P. M., (1996). Establishing equivalence relations using a respondent-type training procedure. The Psychological Record, 46, 685-706.
• Barnes, D., Leader, G., & Smeets, P. M., (1996). New procedures for establishing emergent matching performances in children and adults: Implications for stimulus equivalence. In T. R. Zentall & P. M. Smeets (Eds). Stimulus Class Formation in Humans and Animals. (pp. 151-173). North-Holland: Elsevier Science.

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