In this episode of Behavioral Observations Podcast, host Matt Cicoria invites Dr. Francesca degli Espinosa, Behavioral Psychologist at ABA Clinic UK, to explore how complex social behaviors like gaze-following are built from foundational behavioral principles. What we often call “eye contact” isn’t just a passive event, it’s a stimulus. And like any stimulus, it can acquire meaning through interaction. When we define "contact with the eyes" as the result of the behavior “eye-looking,” we shift f

In this episode of the Behavioral Observations Podcast, host Matt Cicoria invites Dr. Francesca degli Espinosa, Behavioral Psychologist at ABA Clinic UK, to unpack the deeper functions behind eye looking going far beyond topography and into the operant processes that shape social behavior. It’s not about whether a child looks at you. It’s why they look. Instead of teaching a child to "look when prompted" for a reward. We should be arranging environments where eye contact becomes predictive of jo