Enhancing eSports Performance with Behavior Analysis: Session 166 with James Riswick-Estelle

The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria

I'm not a gamer... well, at least not at this stage of my life. But that aside, I really enjoyed this conversation with FIT doctoral student, James Riswick-Estelle.

We talked about his he got into ABA in the first place, a brief history of eSports, the current status of eSports, and then, how he uses behavior analytic principles to enhance the performance of athletes.

To be honest, I was blown away with how vast and popular eSports is right now. So popular that Florida Tech now has their own department dedicated to it! And James and I discussed how he "pitched" the use of ABA to the eSports director, and shared his thoughts on how to do this successfully.

We went on to discuss some of the specific interventions that he and his colleagues have used to optimize player performance. I think you'll find it quite interesting. Even if you're not a gamer, I believe there will be many parallels that you'll likely readily identify.

In this episode, we mentioned the following resources:

• James on LinkedIn.
• Department of Behavior Analysis at FIT.
• FIT eSports Department.
• FIT eSports on Twitch.
• FIT eSports on Instagram.
• FIT eSports on Twitter.
• FIT eSports Discord.
• The practice of gifting books.
• The movie Moneyball.
• A background on eSports.
• "Don't Wag the Dog: Expanding the Reach of Behavior Analysis," Normand & Kohn.
• A primer on Implementation Science.

Today's episode is brought to you with the support of the following sponsors:

• The ABA Marketing Minute from Rich Brooks at Flyte New Media. If you're wondering how to successfully market your ABA practice, go to takeflyte.com/abaminute, and check out Flyte New Media's free 35 minute lesson on building effective websites.
• The Professional Crisis Management Association, or PCMA for short. Later on in the show, you'll hear from one of the most popular podcast guests, Dr. Merrill Winston, where he'll talk about how PCMA helps agencies support individuals who exhibit dangerous behaviors. For more info on them, go to PCMA.com.
• HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away.
• Institutional Tier Patron Greenspace Behavioral Technology. Greenspace behavior offers cutting edge supervisor coaching, performance and competency-based trainings, and organizational supports for new BCBA and trainees. Find out how you can optimize your supervision practices, improve clinical outcomes, and increase employee satisfaction at Greenspacebehavior.com.