Association for Behavior Analysis International

Life as a behavior analyst for Dr. Sigrid Glenn began some 30 years after B. F. Skinner’s momentous publication of The Behavior of Organisms. In 1970, the history and status of behavior analytic work could be summarized in 19 chapters in Honig’s Operant Behavior: Areas of Research and Application (1966). And a two-volume compendium of reprinted articles provided easy pre-Internet access to 98 original works on concepts, principles, methods, and applications of behavior analysis (Ulrich, Stachnik, and Mabry, 1966 and 1970). Further, as a new graduate student she could reasonably set out to read all 12 volumes of the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior and the one volume of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis that then existed. Most exciting to Dr. Glenn, Skinner’s newly published Contingencies of Reinforcement offered a coherent worldview that replaced a muddle of incoherent ideas. Behavior analysis was very different then. Looking back on the subsequent 45 years, Dr. Glenn will recount a few of the events that seem to capture the changes she has seen, and reflect on the relevance of those changes to the future of behavior analysis as a coherent whole. Finally, a brief survey of several future paths behavior analysis may take is followed by a recommendation for one that seems best to support disciplinary coherence.

A severe shortage of training courses exists across Europe to prepare professionals to meet the needs of parents whose children are diagnosed with autism. To address this concern and the resulting myths about applied behavior analysis that have sprung up, Leonardo, a former part of the European Commission's Lifelong Learning Programme, supported two projects to further development of an innovative multimedia program first developed in Northern Ireland by local charity Parents' Education as Autism Therapists (PEAT) and behavior analysts from the Ulster University. Called Simple Steps, this multimedia program uses video material in the form of parental testimonies, animations, demonstrations, and textural material to teach the principles of applied behavior analysis. The projects funded by Leonardo were each called STAMPPP and included partners from the United Kingdom, Norway, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Iceland, and Germany; another group from Portugal obtained funding independently to develop the program. For some partners, this was the first time they had access to material on behavior analysis in their own language. In this presentation, Dr. Keenan will show examples of the resources that were developed and encourage others to think about the importance of moving beyond static images when teaching about something dynamic such as behavior.

Sustainability, education, workplace safety, language development, addiction, autism ... the list goes on and on. Behavior analysis applies very broadly indeed, and is inherently interdisciplinary. How can we best get our scientific principles recognized, valued, and used in all the areas they apply? One approach is to reach out to the public directly. In The Science of Consequences, Dr. Susan M. Schneider sought to cover the full range of our science and its applications, simultaneously highlighting many connections with other fields. This inclusive approach seems valuable for the sake of both science and dissemination: We now know how fully operant principles interact with others in the large and complex nature-and-nurture system, for example. Can we do better at getting the word out about all that we have to offer? In this presentation, Dr. Schneider will explore this continuing challenge as well as celebrate our progress.

Behavior analysis is a powerful tool that could ameliorate many of society’s problems. One of the first problems seriously addressed with a behavior analytic approach was the treatment of autism. Although a behavioral approach yielded promising results from the start, it took many years before the behavioral approach was accepted as the treatment of choice for autism. Although promising data also have been obtained from applications of behavioral technology to other social problems, these applications have not yet been widely accepted or disseminated. B. F. Skinner envisioned behavior analysis as a technology that would address a wide variety of societal challenges. Initially, behavior analysts were highly enthusiastic about society adopting our approach in areas such as education, but many people already working in these fields were resistant to a behavioral approach. This paper will examine a number of areas where behavior analysis could make a difference, and explore ways to overcome obstacles and accelerate the acceptance of our approach.

Psychologists, behavior analysts, practitioners, and graduate students.