Education

B.A., Northeast Louisiana University, Psychology, 1992.
M.S., Northeast Louisiana University, General-Experimental Psychology, 1995.
Ph.D., Texas Christian University, Experimental Psychology, 2001.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Binghamton University, Cognitive Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience, 2000-2003.
Board Certified Behavior Analyst, 2005-2011.

Courses 2011-2012

Psy 201 Principles of Psychology
Psy 423 Sensation and Perception
Psy 444 Conditioning and Learning
Psy 528 Applied Behavior Analysis I
Psy 563 Behavior Therapy

Academic Interests

I am fascinated by learning. I have researched how animals and people deal with competing cues for important events, how animals behave when previously learned rewards stop coming, and how basic principles of learning and memory derived from experimental psychology can accelerate school performance.

Regarding the latter, about three years ago, I started working on solutions to Benjamin Bloom's " Two-Sigma Problem". This is the name given to the difficulty of catching groups of lagging students up to grade level. Recent results with a "path of steepest ascent instructional model" demonstrate two year gains in some basic skills with just two months of instruction. Over the next year or two, I hope to find a way to get this model of instruction to the kids who need it.

Publications

Stout, S.C. (2012). The POSA solution to the two-sigma problem. Manuscript in preparation.

McKerchar, T. L., Green, L., Myerson, J., Pickford, T. S., Hill, J. C., & Stout, S. C. (2009). A comparison of four models of delay discounting in humans. Behavioral Processes, 81, 256-259.

Stout, S. C., & Miller, R. R. (2007). Sometimes competing retrieval (SOCR): A formalization of the comparator hypothesis. Psychological Review, 114, 759-783.

Pineño, O., Urushihara, K, Stout, S., Fuss, J., & Miller, R. R. (2006). When less is more: Extending training of the blocking association following compound training attenuates the blocking effect. Learning & Behavior, 34, 21-36.

Stout, S. C., Amundson, J., & Miller, R. R. (2005). Trial order and retention interval in human predictive judgment. Memory & Cognition, 33, 1368-1376.

Chang, R., Stout, S. C., & Miller, R. R. (2004). Comparing excitatory and forward backward conditioning. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology: B Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 57, 1-23.

Stout, S. C., Escobar, M., & Miller, R. R. (2004). Trial number and temporal relationship as joint determinants of second-order conditioning and conditioned inhibition. Learning & Behavior, 32, 230-239.

Stout, S. C., & Miller, R. R. (2004). Effect of amount of contextual extinction on revaluation of a target CS. Behavioural Processes, 66, 7-16.

Urushihara, K., Stout, S. C., & Miller, R. R. (2004). The basic laws of conditioning differ between elemental cues and cues trained in compound. Psychological Science, 14, 268-271.

Wheeler, D. S., Stout, S. C., & Miller, R. R. (2004). Interaction of retention interval with CS-preexposure and extinction treatments: Symmetry with respect to primacy. Learning & Behavior, 32, 335-347.

Savastano, H. I., Arcediano, F., Stout, S. C., & Miller, R. R. (2003). Interaction between preexposure and overshadowing: Further analysis of the extended comparator hypothesis. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology: B Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 56, 371-395.

Stout, S. C., Arcediano, P., Escobar, M., & Miller, R. R. (2003). Overshadowing as a function of trial number: Dynamics of first- and second-order comparator processes. Learning & Behavior, 31, 85-97.

Stout, S. C., Boughner, R., & Papini, M. R. (2003). Reexamining the frustration effect in rats: Aftereffects of surprising reinforcement and nonreinforcement. Learning and Motivation, 34, 437-456.

Stout, S. C., Chang, R., & Miller, R. R. (2003). Trial spacing is a determinant of cue interaction. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavioral Processes, 29, 23-38.

Stout, S. C., Muzio, R. N., Boughner, R. L., & Papini, M. R. (2002). Aftereffects of the surprising presentation and omission of appetitive reinforcers on key-pecking in pigeons. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavioral Processes, 2, 242-256.

Applied Experiences

•2010-2011. President, Sirius Education. Oversaw implementation of accelerated intervention programs in math, reading, and school readiness skills at various sites in Calhoun County, AL.

•2007-2010. Consultant. Anniston Housing Authority to Anniston City Schools. Classroom behavior management, teacher training, data management.

•2007. Consultant. Oxford City Schools. Behavioral programming support.

•2007-2008. Applied Behavior Analysis Practicum Director. Jacksonville State University.

•2007-2009. Consultant. Trion County Schools. Functional analysis of behavior and implementation and revision of behavior intervention programs.

•2006. Consultant. Babies Can't Wait District 8-1, Georgia Department of Human Resources, Division of Public Health. Behavioral support for providers of services to developmentally delayed children.

•2006. Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). Behavior Analysis Certification Board, #1-06-2694.

• 2005-2006. Consultant. Hamilton County Schools, Exceptional Student Education. Behavioral support, teacher consultation, functional analysis, implementation and revision of behavior management programs.

• 2003-2006. Assistant Professor of Psychology, Valdosta State University. Taught courses in applied behavior analysis and experimental analysis of behavior. Supervised individual behavior change projects of students in applied behavior analysis courses.

• 1995-1996. Consultant. Sabine Association for Retarded Citizens. Assessment of eligibility for services through administration of standardized intelligence tests (e.g., Stanford-Binet, WAIS), functional behavioral assessments (e.g., Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales), and interviews. Conducted functional analyses of maladaptive behavior of residents and wrote and implemented behavior intervention plans to address these behaviors.

• 1995-1996. Associate to a Psychologist, Pinecrest Development Center. Conducted functional assessments of client adaptive and maladaptive behavior through observation, staff interview, client interaction, and standardized instruments. Wrote and implemented behavior intervention plans to address client behavior.