ABAI’s International Conference in Lisbon, PT -Excecional! Over 1,100 Gather in the City of the Seven Hills
We are so thankful to all who attended the Association for Behavior Analysis International’s 12th International Conference in Lisbon, Portugal on November 11–13, 2025. With over 1,100 attendees, it was one of ABAI’s most successful international conferences ever!
The Altis Grand Hotel in Lisbon was a beautiful venue for the conference. We enjoyed ten workshops on Tuesday, November 11, given by esteemed presenters Mark Dixon; William Heward; Thomas Higbee; Helder Gusso, Tracey Lawson, Caio Medeiros Oliveira, and Gabriel Melo Cardoso; Giovambattista Presti; Nicole Metelo Dias; Deisy das Graças De Souza; Gladys Willliams and Richard Laitinen; and Kalliu Carvalho Couto. Several workshops were presented in Portuguese, which was excellent for local attendees. Thank you very much to our workshop presenters!
Thank you to all who joined us for the Opening Reception on Tuesday evening, and thank you to the International Behavior Analysis Organization (IBAO) for sponsoring it! The conference Program Committee, Marcelo Benvenuti, Mark Galizio, and Armando Machado, delivered the opening remarks and started the conference off on a great note.
The program for the 12th International Conference featured many presenters invited by the Program Committee. Invited presentations began on Wednesday, November 12 and included Martha Hubner (Learning to Read: Basic Processes and Implications to Practice); Romain Brette (Brains Beyond Computers); Anna Budzinska (A Comparison Controlled Study Examining Outcome for Children With Autism Receiving Intensive Behavioral Intervention (IBI) Institute for Child Development, Gdansk, Poland); Tahcita Medrado Mizael (Why Race and Ethnicity in Behavior Analysis?); and Anita Jansen (Learning Models of Eating and Weight Disorders).
On Thursday, November 13, the programcontinued with Óscar Filipe Coelho Neves Gonçalves (Brain as Behavior: Applying Behavioral Analysis to the Development of Brain-Machine Interfaces in Consciousness Disorders); Francesca Degli Espinosa (Eye Contact: To Teach or Not to Teach? That Is Not the Question); Timothy Hackenberg (Pigeons’ Choosing to Go to Work: Using Reinforcement-Based Methods to Balance Animal Welfare With Research Needs); Carsta Simon (An Evolutionary Approach to Verbal Behavior); Ricardo Pellon (Temporal Adjustment to Reinforcement Schedules and Response Induction); and concluded with William Heward (Some Wisdom, Warnings, and Encouragements for Today’s Behavior Analysts From Pioneers and Pathfinders Past).
In addition to these excellent invited presentations, the International Conference’s program featured 71 submitted symposia, 30 panels, 77 papers, and 134 posters. The poster session during lunch on Wednesday was extremely enjoyable and engaging – it was delightful to meet old friends, network with colleagues, and listen to engaging research. Thank you very much to all who submitted and participated! It is very encouraging to have such a strong and engaging international program.
The success of this conference would not have been possible without the Program Committee: Marcelo Benvenuti, Mark Galizio, and Armando Machado. We are so thankful for the tremendous work they did in compiling the program and organizing this event. Additionally, thank you to ABAI staff for their work in planning and executing the event.
Because of the popularity of this conference, which drew a higher audience than anticipated, ABAI is planning another international conference in 2026. Our spacious venue at the O2 universum Congress Center will comfortably accommodate the attendance levels from Lisbon and more! Mark your calendars to join us in Prague, Czech Republic, for ABAI’s 13th International Conference on October 30 –November 1, 2026! We look forward to seeing you there.
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