About John Rapp
Professor and Director of ABA Program

Dr. Rapp is the Director of the Applied Behavior Analysis program and a full Professor in the Department of Psychology at Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama.  He is also the Project Director for the Alabama Psychiatric Medication Review Team with the Alabama Department of Human Resources.  He received his doctoral degree in Behavior Analysis from The University of Florida in 2003.  He currently serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Behavioral Interventions, Behavior Modification, Education and Treatment of Children, and The European Journal of Behavior Analysis.  To date, he has coauthored over 90 articles that are published in peer-reviewed journals.  His research interests include the assessment and treatment of automatically reinforced behavior such as stereotypy, evaluating the sensitivity of discontinuous recording methods for detecting changes in behavioral events, and production of false positives with single-subject designs.  Recently, he and his graduate students have begun to extend behavioral interventions to nontraditional populations such as foster care youth and detained adolescents.  

Alabama Psychiatric Medication Review Team (APMRT) website

Representative Publications

Brogan, K. M., Rapp, J. T., Sennott, L. A., Cook, J. L., & Swinkels, E. (in press). Further analysis of the predictive effects of a free operant competing stimulus assessment on stereotypy. Behavior Modification.

Coon, J. C. & Rapp, J. T. (in press). Application of multiple baseline designs in behavior analytic research: Evidence for the influence of new guidelines. Behavioral Interventions.

Gunby, K., Rapp, J. T., & Bottoni, M. M. (in press). Teaching children with autism to follow gaze shift. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis.

Brogan, K. M., Rapp, J. T., Niedfeld, A. M., Coon, J. C., Newman, J. L., & Burkhart, B. R.  (2017). Increasing quiet compliance by detained adolescents. Behavior Modification. doi: 10.1177/0145445517716675

Cook, J. L., Rapp, J. T., Burji, C., McHugh, C. & Nuta, R. (2017). A simple intervention for stereotypical engagement with an augmentative alternative communicative device. Behavioral Interventions, 32, 272-277. https://doi.org/10.1002/bin.1478

Brogan, K. M., Falligant, J. M., & Rapp, J. T. (2017). Interdependent group contingencies decrease adolescents’ disruptive behaviors during group therapy: A practitioner’s demonstration. Behavior Modification, 41, 405–421 doi: 10.1177/0145445517693812

Cook, J. L., Rapp, J. T., Mann, K. R., McHugh, C., Burji, C., & Nuta, R. (2017). A practitioner model for increasing eye contact in children with autism. Behavior Modification, 41, 382–404. doi: 10.1177/0145445516689323

Gunby, K., Rapp, J. T., Bottoni, M. M, Marchese, N., & Wu. B. (2017). Teaching children with autism to follow gaze shift: A brief report on three cases.  Advance online publication. Behavioral Interventions. http://doi.org/10.1002/bin.1465

Rapp, J. T., Cook, J. L., McHugh, M., & Mann, K. (2017). Decreasing stereotypy using NCR and DRO with functionally matched stimulation: Effects on targeted and nontargeted stereotypy. Behavior Modification, 41, 45–83. doi: 10.1177/0145445516652370

Rapp, J. T. & Gunby, K. (2016). Task interspersal for individuals with autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 49, 730–734. doi: 10.1002/jaba.319

Lanovaz, M. J., & Rapp, J. T. (2016). Using single-case experiments to support evidence-based decisions: How much is enough? Behavior Modification, 40, 377-395. doi: 10.1177/0145445515613584

Lanovaz, M. J., Rapp, J. T., Maciw, I., Dorion, C., & Prégent-Pelletier, É. (2016).  Preliminary effects of parent-implemented behavioral interventions for stereotypy: Brief report. Developmental Neurorehabilitation, 19, 193-196. doi: 10.3109/17518423.2014.986821