Federico Sanabria is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at Arizona State University. He received his professional degree in psychology from the Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá, Colombia), and his master's and doctorate in experimental psychology from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook, under the mentorship of Dr. Howard Rachlin (animal models of choice and self-control). He joined Arizona State University in 2004 as a postdoctoral research associate, under the mentorship of Dr. Peter R. Killeen (quantitative models of motivated behavior; animal models of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and Dr. Janet L. Neisewander (psychopharmacology, with an emphasis on nicotine). In 2008, he joined the faculty in the Behavioral Neuroscience program in the Department of Psychology. He studies basic behavioral and cognitive processes underlying behavioral regulation in various species, and applies this research to the study of psychiatric disorders, primarily substance abuse and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Aside from maintaining a productive laboratory (47 empirical, peer-reviewed publications by 2017), and training and mentoring graduate and undergraduate students, Professor Sanabria has taken multiple leadership roles, including president of the International Society for Comparative Psychology (ISCP), member of the Board of Directors of the Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (SEAB), member of the Executive Board of the Society for the Quantitative Analysis of Behavior (SQAB), program board coordinator for the Annual Convention of the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI), and associate editor for Learning & Behavior, and the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.
Experimental research on basic behavioral and cognitive processes underlying behavioral regulation in various species, and the application of this research to the study of psychiatric disorders, primarily substance abuse and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Processes include learning, timing, choice, and response inhibition.
Real-time models of behavior. The main purpose of these models is to analytically isolate changes in motivation, learning, and sensorimotor capacity in free-operant performance, such as during the acquisition, maintenance, and extinction of food and drug self-administration. Together, these models have been used to account for spontaneous exploratory behavior (Cabrera et al., 2013), Pavlovian conditioning (Killeen et al., 2009), instrumental behavior (Brackney et al., 2011; Daniels & Sanabria, 2017a) and its disruption (Brackney et al., 2017), adjunctive behavior (Íbias et al., 2015, 2017), choice (Sanabria & Thrailkill, 2009), and timing (Daniels & Sanabria, 2017b). An introductory video is available here.
Response inhibition capacity (RIC). Impulsivity is a broad construct that encompasses multiple behavioral problems, including a reduced capacity to withhold reinforced responses. This capacity is known as response inhibition capacity (RIC); its deficit is a characteristic of multiple psychiatric disorders, including depression and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Our laboratory has validated a method for assessing RIC in animal models (Watterson et al., 2015). We have applied this method to demonstrate (for the first time!) a methylphenidate (Ritalin)-induced enhancement and a stress-induced reduction of RIC in rats (Hill et al., 2012). We have also shown that nicotine reduces RIC in an animal model of ADHD (Mazur et al., 2014). We are currently adapting this method to study RIC in healthy and genetically modified mice.
Temporal and spatial control of behavior. Our laboratory is concerned with dissociating timing processes from non-timing processes embedded within instrumental behavior (Daniels & Sanabria, 2017b). To accomplish this, our laboratory has examined a novel timing paradigm, has compared performance in this task across species, including humans, and has examined the sensitivity of task performance to nicotine administration. On the spatial dimension, we have demonstrated the contribution of spatial variables (motion and correlation) to Pavlovian sign-tracking (Cabrera et al., 2009; Mazur & Sanabria, 2011). On the olfactory dimension, we have begun exploring how odors are represented in the brains of mice.
**Denotes Dr. Sanabria as senior author (typically last). *Denotes Dr. Sanabria as senior collaborating author. +Denotes graduate student under direct supervision of Dr. Sanabria. ^Denotes undergraduate student under direct supervision of Dr. Sanabria. #Denotes visiting scholar in Dr. Sanabria’s laboratory.
Refereed Empirical Research
Theoretical Papers, Chapters, Commentaries, Editorials, and Other Contributions
Ongoing
Completed
Spring 2021 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 320 | Learning and Motivation |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 591 | Seminar |
PSY 799 | Dissertation |
Fall 2020 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 320 | Learning and Motivation |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 790 | Reading and Conference |
PSY 792 | Research |
Spring 2020 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 320 | Learning and Motivation |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
PSY 420 | Analysis of Behavior |
BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 792 | Research |
Fall 2019 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 320 | Learning and Motivation |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 792 | Research |
Spring 2019 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 320 | Learning and Motivation |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
Fall 2018 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 512 | Advanced Learning |
PSB 573 | Adv Prin Learn & Analy of Behv |
Spring 2018 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 591 | Seminar |
Fall 2017 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 320 | Learning and Motivation |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSB 573 | Adv Prin Learn & Analy of Behv |
PSY 591 | Seminar |
Spring 2017 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 591 | Seminar |
Fall 2016 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 320 | Learning and Motivation |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSB 573 | Adv Prin Learn & Analy of Behv |
PSY 591 | Seminar |
Associate Editor
2015 – 2019 Learning & Behavior (Psychonomic Society Journal)
2014 – 2017 Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
Guest Editor
2017 – 2018 Behavioural Processes: Special Issue SQAB 2017 (co-edited with Christopher Podlesnik)
2016 – 2017 Behavioural Processes: Special Issue SQAB 2016 (co-edited with Christopher Podlesnik)
Editorial Boards and Committees
2016 – present Revista Mexicana de Análisis de la Conducta
2013 – present Acta Comportamentalia (Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Mexico)
2013 – present Revista de Psicología (Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile)
2012 – 2014 Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
2011 – present Revista Colombiana de Psicología (Universidad Nacional de Colombia) – Scientific Committee
2010 – present Frontiers in Comparative Psychology – Review Editor
2008 – present Diversitas: Perspectivas en Psicología (Universidad Santo Tomás, Bogotá, Colombia)
2008 – present Universitas Psychologica (Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia)
2008 – present Revista Latinoamericana de Psicología (Fundación Universitaria Konrad Lorenz, Bogotá, Colombia)
2008 – present Revista Latinoamericana de Psicología (Fundación Universitaria Konrad Lorenz, Bogotá, Colombia)
Ad Hoc Reviewer
Alcohol and Alcoholism
Animal Cognition
Avances en Psicología Latinoamericana
Behavioural Brain Research
Behavioural Processes
Biological Psychiatry
Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology
Epilepsy & Behavior
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
Frontiers in Psychology
IEEE Transactions in Neural Networks
International Journal of Comparative Psychology
Learning & Behavior
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Learning and Cognition (previously Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes)
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
Journal of Mathematical Psychology
Journal of Neuroscience Methods
Neuropsychopharmacology
Pensamiento Psicológico
Physiology & Behavior
PLoS ONE
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
Psychopharmacology
2011 – present National Hispanic Science Network
2011 – 2012. Comparative Cognition Society
2009 – present Society for Neuroscience
2008 – present Sigma Xi
2008 – present International Society for Comparative Psychology
2004 – present Psychonomic Society, Fellow
2004 – 2013 Association for Psychological Science
1999 – present Society for the Quantitative Analysis of Behavior
1999 – present Association for Behavior Analysis International
1997 – present American Psychological Association