About Sarah Richling
Assistant Clinical Professor

Dr. Sarah Richling received her Ph.D. from the University of Nevada, Reno (2017) and is currently an Assistant Clinical Professor at Auburn University. Dr. Richling serves as the Practicum Coordinator of clinical training and services at Auburn, is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (2010), and volunteers in various capacities for the Behavior Analyst Certification Board. Dr. Richling is an Associate Editor for Behavior and Social Issues and has served as an editorial board member and reviewer for various scholarly journals. Dr. Richling is the former President (2021) and current Executive Director for the Alabama Association for Behavior Analysis (ALABA). In addition, she serves as a Senior Program Area Coordinator for Community, Social, and Sustainability Issues at the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) annual conference and as a Planners Board member for Behaviorists for Social Responsibility (BFSR).

Dr. Richling recently completed a visiting professorship at the University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt in Germany and has previously held a position of clinical supervisor and instructor at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Riyahd, Saudi Arabia. 

Her current scholarly interests include the dissemination and adoption of evidence-based practice and continuing education, the empirical evaluation of ritualistic clinical practices, organizational and scientific system-building, the integration of the philosophical bases of behavioral science, and community and social issues including criminal behavior, advocacy, activism, and accompaniment.

Classes Taught

Undergraduate

• PSYC 3500: Applied Behavior Analysis 
• PSYC 3503: Applied Behavior Analysis (online)

Graduate

• PSYC 8550: Applied Behavior Analysis I
• PSYC 8540: Behaviorism
• PSYC 7910: Practicum in Applied Psychology
• PSYC 7980: Capstone and Practicum

Representative Publications

Longino, E. B., McDougale, C. M., Richling, S. M., & Palmier, J. (in press). Evaluation of a mastery criteria and maintenance using a most-to-least prompting hierarchy. Behavior Analysis in Practice.

Edgemon, A., Rapp, J. Coon, J., Cruz-Khalili, A., Brogan, K., & Richling, S. (2021). Using behavior contracts to improve behavior of children and adolescents in multiple settings. Behavioral Interventions, 36(1), 271-288. https://doi.org/10.1002/bin.1757

Hamrick, S. A., Richling, S. M., Davis, W. T., Rapp, J. T., Longino, E. B., Kimber, P., Brogan, K. M., Law, S. M. (2021). Fluency and the Maintenance of Skills Related to Sex Laws for Individuals Adjudicated for Illegal Sexual Behavior. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 14(1), 110-119. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-020-00496-x

Ardila, Sanchez, J. G., Cihon, T. M., Malott, M. E., Mattaini, M. A., Rakos, R. F., Rehfeldt, R. A., Richling, S. M., Roose, K. M., & Seniuk H. A. (2020). Collective editorial: Ten guidelines for strategic social action. Behavior and Social Issues, 29, 15-30. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42822-020-00038-8

Szabo, T., Richling, S. M., Embry, D. D., Biglan, A., & Wilson, K. G. (2020). From helpless to hero: Promoting values-based behavior and positive family interaction in the midst of COVID-19. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 13(3), 568-576. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-020-00431-0

King, E. , Harrell, A. R., & Richling, S. M. (2020). Best practices: Caregiver training resources derived from remote behavioral service delivery within the foster care system. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 13(3), 527-531. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-020-00436-9

Edgemon, A. K., Rapp, J. T., Brogan, K. M., Richling, S. M., Hamrick, S. A., Peters, R. J., & O’Rourke, S. A. (2020). Behavioral skills training to increase interview skills of adolescent males in a secure residential treatment facility. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis.

Hamrick, S., Richling, S. M., Brogan, K. M., Rapp, J. T., & Davis, W. T. (2020). Effects of obtrusive observation and rules on classroom behavior in a juvenile residential treatment setting. Behavior Modification.

McDougale, C., Richling, S. M., Longino, E. B., & O’Rourke, S. A. (2019). Mastery criteria and maintenance: A descriptive analysis of applied research procedures. Behavior Analysis in Practice.

Richling, S. M., Williams, W. L., & Carr, J. E. (2019). The effects of different mastery criteria on the skill maintenance of children with developmental disabilities. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis.

O’Rourke, S. A., Richling, S. M., Brogan, K., McDougale, C., & Rapp, J. T. (2019). Tolerance Training with Adolescents in a Residential Juvenile Facility. Behavior Modification. 

Maragakis, A., Vriesman, M., LaLonde, L., Richling, S. M., & Lancaster, B. (2019). Quality improvement and behavior analysis: Another name for a rose that smells just as sweet. Journal of Contextual Behavior Science.

McDougale, C. M., Coon, J., Richling, S. M., Rapp, J. T., Thompson, K., & Burkhart, B. (2019). Group Procedures for decreasing problem behavior displayed by detained adolescents. Behavior Modification.

Brogan, K. M., Richling, S. M., Rapp, J. T., Thompson, K. R., & Burkhart, B. R. (2018). Activism and advocacy note: Collaborative efforts by the Auburn University Applied Behavior Analysis Program in the treatment of adolescents adjudicated for illegal sexual behavior. Behavior and Social Issues, 27, AA11-AA15.

Richling, S. M., Luke, M. M., Hayes, L. J., & Legaspi, D. N. (2017). Interbehavioral research: A commentary on the investigative and interpretive domains. Conductual, 5, 5-16. 

Richling, S. M., Rapp, J. T., Funk, J. A., D’Agostini, J., Garrido, N., & Moreno, V. (2014). Low publication rate of 2005 conference presentations: Implications for practitioners serving individuals with autism and intellectual disabilities. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 35, 2744-2750.

Lanovaz, M. J., Rapp, J. T., Long, E. S., Richling, S. M., & Carroll, R. A. (2014). Preliminary effects of conditioned motivating operations on stereotypy. The Psychological Record, 64, 209-216.

Richling, S. M., Rapp, J. T., Carroll, Smith, J. M., & Siewert, B. (2011). Using noncontingent reinforcement to increase compliance with wearing prescription prostheses. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 44, 375-379.