Joseph Lambert
Assistant Professor, Department of Special Education
Dr. Lambert is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Special Education at Vanderbilt University. He earned his Ph.D. in Disability Disciplines from Utah State University, with an emphasis in Applied Behavior Analysis, and is a Doctoral-level Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA-D). His areas of expertise include functional analysis methodology, function-based interventions, and environmental factors that influence the maintenance of these interventions. He also studies practitioner training.
Dr. Lambert has years of experience designing and evaluating function-based interventions for the challenging behavior of individuals with severe disabilities and supervises the applied field experiences of masters- and doctoral-level professionals training to become BCBAs. Lambert has worked in public and private schools and has trained staff in both settings, as well as in group homes and day centers for adults diagnosed with developmental disabilities.
Currently, Dr. Lambert serves as co-investigator for a number of federally funded projects and teaches courses in behavior management, methods of instruction, and ethics. He also sits on the editorial board of Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice and is a past board member of Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis.
Representative Publications
Lambert, J.M., & Houchins-Juarez, N.J., (in press). Do functional analyses probe learning histories, or create them? An exploratory investigation. American Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.
Lambert, J.M., Bloom, S.E., Nickerson, C., Clay, C.J., & Samaha, A.L. (in press). Evaluating functional differences between positive and negative reinforcement through preference for parameters of sound manipulation. Mexican Journal of Behavior Analysis.
Lambert, J.M., Torelli, J.N., Houchins-Juarez, N.J., Tate, S.A., & Paranczak, J.L. (2020). Effects of establishing operations on learning during functional communication training. Journal of Behavioral Education.
Lambert, J. M., Parikh, N., Stankiewicz, K. C., Houchins-Juarez, N. J., Morales, V. A., Sweeney, E. M., & Milam, M. E. (2019). Decreasing food stealing of child with Prader Willi Syndrome through function-based differential reinforcement. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 49, 721-728.
Randall, K.R., Lambert, J.M, Matthews, M.P., & Houchins-Juarez, N.J. (2018). Individualized levels systems and systematic stimulus fading to reduce multiply controlled aggression of a child with autism spectrum disorder. Behavior Modification. 42, 422-440.
Lambert, J.M., Lopano, S.E., Noel, C.R., & Ritchie, M.N. (2017). Teacher-conducted, latency based functional analysis as basis for individualized levels system in a classroom setting. Behavior Analysis in Practice.
Lambert, J.M., Clohisy, A.M., Barrows, S.B., & Houchins-Juarez, N.J. (2016). Compound schedules approaches to noncompliance: teaching children when to ask and when to work. Journal of Behavioral Education, 26, 201-220.
Lambert, J. M., Copeland, B. A., Karp, E. L., Finley, C. I., Houchins-Juarez, N. J., & Ledford, J. R. (2016). Chaining functional basketball sequences (with embedded conditional discriminations) in an adolescent with autism. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 9, 199-210.
Lambert, J. M., Bloom, S. E., Samaha, A. L., Dayton, E., & Kunnavatana, S. S. (2016). Effects of noncontingent reinforcement on the persistence and resurgence of mild aggression. The Psychological Record, 66, 283-289.
Lambert, J.M., Bloom, S.E., Samaha, A.L., Dayton, E., & Rodewald, A. (2015). Serial alternative response training as intervention for target response resurgence. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 48, 765-780.
Lambert, J.M., Lloyd, B.P., Staubitz, J.L., Weaver, E.S., & Jennings, C.M. (2014). Effect of an automated training presentation on pre-service behavior analysts’ implementation of trial based functional analysis. Journal of Behavioral Education, 23, 344-367.
Lambert, J.M., Bloom, S.E., Kunnavatana, S.S., Collins, S., Clay, C. (2013). Training residential staff to conduct trial-based functional analyses. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 46, 293-300. doi: 10.1002/jaba.17
Lambert, J.M., Bloom, S.E., & Irvin, J. (2012). Trial-based functional analysis and functional communication training in an early childhood setting. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 45, 579-584. doi: 10.1901/jaba.2012.45-579
Snyder, K., Lambert, J.M., & Twohig, M.P. (2011). Defusion: a behavior-analytic strategy for addressing private events. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 4, 4-13.
Courses Taught
SPEDS 7250: Methods of Instruction for Students with Autism, Intellectual, & Multiple Disabilities
SPED 7400: Management Procedures for Academic & Social Behavior
SPED 7430: Administering Ethical Behavior Analytic Services
SPEDH 7600: Advanced Procedures in Classroom Management and Social Skills Instruction
SPED 7980: Applied Lab-Toward Verbal Proficiency and Practical Application of the Principles, Processes, and Concepts of Radical Behaviorism