Todd Risley

{{short description|American psychologist}}

{{Infobox scientist

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| name = Todd Risley

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| birth_name = Todd Robert Risley

| birth_date = {{birth date|1937|09|08}}

| birth_place = Alaska, United States of America

| death_date = {{death date and age |2007|11|02 |1937|09|08}}

| death_place = Alaska

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| fields = Psychology

| workplaces = University of Kansas
University of Alaska, Anchorage

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| education = San Diego State College
University of Washington

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| thesis_title = The establishment of verbal behavior in deviant children

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| thesis_year = 1966

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Montrose Wolf

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| known_for = Applied behavior analysis

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Todd Robert Risley (September 8, 1937 – November 2, 2007) was an American psychologist. He is credited with helping to create the field of applied behavior analysis, and has been described as a "pioneer" in this field.{{Cite journal |last1=Fixsen |first1=Dean |last2=Dunlap |first2=Glen |date=April 2004 |title=A Celebration of the Contributions of Montrose M. Wolf and Todd R. Risley |journal=Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions |language=en |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=121–123 |doi=10.1177/10983007040060020701 |s2cid=145577843 |issn=1098-3007}}{{Cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Child Behavior and Development |publisher=Springer US |location=Boston, MA |last1=Cox |first1=Michelle |date=2011 |pages=1274–1275 |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-0-387-79061-9_3160 |isbn=978-0-387-77579-1 |last2=Foster |first2=Kenneth |last3=Pritchard |first3=Josh |last4=Chong |first4=Ivy |last5=Noggle |first5=Chad A. |last6=Mazur-Mosiewicz |first6=Anna |last7=Davis |first7=Andrew S. |last8=Guion |first8=Kim |last9=Holcomb |first9=Matthew J.|title=Risley, Todd R }} He is known for the study he conducted with Betty Hart, who was his graduate student at the University of Kansas at the time, on the word gap between rich and poor children.{{Cite journal |last=Lutzker |first=John R. |date=2008 |title=Todd R. Risley (1937-2007). |journal=American Psychologist |language=en |volume=63 |issue=6 |pages=559 |doi=10.1037/0003-066X.63.6.559 |issn=1935-990X}}{{Cite news |last=Kamenetz |first=Anya |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2018/06/01/615188051/lets-stop-talking-about-the-30-million-word-gap |title=Let's Stop Talking About The '30 Million Word Gap' |date=2018-06-01 |work=NPR |access-date=2020-04-19 |language=en |author-link=Anya Kamenetz}} He was also a co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis.{{Cite web |url=https://www.abainternational.org/constituents/bios/toddrisley.aspx |title=Todd Risley |website=Association for Behavior Analysis International |access-date=2020-04-19}}