E-8: Identify and apply interpersonal and other skills (e.g., accepting feedback, listening actively, seeking input, collaborating) to establish and maintain professional relationships ©
Our downloadable PDF review guides have an expanded Ethics section, including the full Ethics Code items, along with multiple ethical decision making models. Click here!
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Target Terms: interpersonal skills, professional relationships
Definition: Interpersonal skills are sets of behaviors that help us and others get things done together, enjoy each others’ company, get mutual needs met, and communicate well.
These skills are sometimes called “soft skills” because they can feel less clear than more technical skills. That’s fair, and there’s definitely a lot of nuance that goes into interpersonal skills. However, there’s nothing “not ABA” about interpersonal skills. We absolutely can use behavior analytic frameworks to help us understand and build strong interpersonal skills in ourselves, our clients, and our supervisees.
It’s super important to know that people outside our field can really help us with developing interpersonal skills too! Lots of professions and cultural traditions can teach us so much about healthy human interactions. They may not explain things in behavior analytic terms, but that’s okay – we can reframe things as we build an understanding.
Places to look for guidance: supervisor and mentor coaching and recommendations, behavior analytic peer reviewed literature on the topic, peer reviewed literature from other fields, books about collaboration/leadership/professional communication, and so forth.
There will never be a replacement for defining skills, practicing them, and getting feedback. This applies to interpersonal skills! In fact, it can be helpful to think about the laws of behavior (e.g. reinforcement, punishment, shaping, etc.) as they relate to our everyday interpersonal interactions. In our opinion, this doesn’t mean being shallow or manipulative. It means using scientific reasoning to understand how we can make our lives – and other people’s lives – better.
Please note some super important FAQs about the Ethics part of the TCO:
Is the Ethics Code part of the Task List or Test Content Outline? Well..not really. Unlike the rest of the TCO, which is its “own thing,” Part E is really a highlight reel of a separate and longer document. That document is called the Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts (link here). Remember that the TCO reflects the parts of the Ethics Code that will show up on the certification exam.
If I go through the TCO items in section E, do I really need to read the actual code? Seems long and boring. YES, you totally and absolutely DO need to read the entire Ethics Code for our profession. Prepping to be a professional is not just about passing a test.
How do I interpret the Ethics Code in specific situations? That’s not for us to tell you. The ethics sections were trickier for us to put together than the other items in the review section. That’s because the items having to do with the science of behavior are straightforward, in a factual sense. Ethics codes are subject to interpretation, cultural influence, and changes over time. We have done our best to help you understand without telling you what to think. Our best advice? Become familiar with ethical problem solving models, and talk to colleagues, supervisors, and mentors.