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| Studies in the Founding of Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Saturday, May 28, 2005 |
| 4:00 PM–5:20 PM |
| Astoria (3rd floor) |
| Area: TPC; Domain: Applied Research |
| Chair: Alexandra Rutherford (York University) |
| Discussant: John L. Michael (Western Michigan University) |
| Abstract: This symposium addresses the founding of applied behavior analysis by (a) analyzing the seminal research in order to identify the field’s founder or founders; (b) examining the foundations of their research in the references they cited; and (c) assessing the impact of their research and the works listed in their reference sections. The literature we review includes the contributions of (a) Ayllon and his colleagues, (b) Wolf and his colleagues, and (c) other off-cited contributors to the field (e.g., Staats, Goldiamond). In analyzing the seminal research, we rate it on a one-to-five scale for each of the dimensions of applied behavior analysis. Our results show that applied behavior analysis evolved over time, not at any one time. In examining the references, we rank them by overall frequency and then by research program. We relate the findings to contemporary assertions about the most important of them. In assessing the impact of this research and the literature it referenced, we conduct citation analyses based on the Web of Science database, ranking the most cited references and describing trends in them across time. The results of these studies are discussed by one of the founders of applied behavior analysis – Jack Michael. |
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| Founding Applied Behavior Analysis: Rating and Ranking the Seminal Research |
| NATHANIEL G. SMITH (University of Kansas), Deborah E. Altus (Washburn University), Edward K. Morris (University of Kansas) |
| Abstract: This paper analyzes the seminal research in applied behavior analysis in order to identify the field’s founder or founders. This research includes the contributions of (a) Ayllon and his colleagues, (b) Wolf and his colleagues, and (c) other off-cited contributors (e.g., Fuller, Williams, Staats, Goldiamond, Zimmerman). Their contributions are rated on a one-to-five scale for each of the seven dimensions of applied behavior analysis (Baer, Wolf, & Risley, 1968). As standards and controls, the same ratings are made of each research article in the first volume of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, the corresponding 1968 volume of Behaviour Research and Therapy (BRT), the first volume of BRT published in 1964, and a relevant clinical journal. Our results show that applied behavior analysis – as defined by these seven dimensions -- evolved over time, not at any one time, and that it is distinct from clinical psychology more generally. The field’s founders and their differential contributions are also confounded by calendar time, making the field’s “true” founder all the more difficult to discern. |
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| Founders’ Referencing Practices: The Foundations of Applied Behavior Analysis |
| DEBORAH E. ALTUS (Washburn University), Nathaniel G. Smith (University of Kansas), Edward K. Morris (University of Kansas) |
| Abstract: This paper examines the foundations of the seminal research in applied behavior analysis in terms of the references cited in that literature. These references relate what the founders considered the basis of their work -- empirical (e.g., The Behavior of Organisms) and conceptual (e.g., Science and Human Behavior). The seminal research is defined as all the articles published in (a) the first volume of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, (b) the contributions of Ayllon and his colleagues and of Wolf and his colleagues, and (c) of the other canonical publications (e.g., Fuller, Williams, Staats, Goldiamond). Every reference in these articles is analyzed for its overall number and its rank order among the most frequently referenced works (e.g., empirical, conceptual). Our findings describe the foundations of applied behavior analysis, which we relate to current assertions about the most important of these works (e.g., Science and Human Behavior). These analyses are repeated as well for each research program (e.g., Ayllon, Wolf, Staats), the results of which describe more specific and differential foundations of these programs (e.g., Hull versus Skinner). |
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| The Founders’ Impact: Citation Analyses of Their Research and References |
| EDWARD K. MORRIS (University of Kansas), Todd L. McKerchar (University of Kansas) |
| Abstract: This paper assesses the impact of the seminal research in applied behavior analysis and the works listed in the reference sections of the literature. The seminal research includes all the articles published in (a) the first volume of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, (b) the contributions of Ayllon and his colleagues and of Wolf and his colleagues, and (c) of the other canonical publications (e.g., Fuller, Williams, Staats, Goldiamond, Zimmerman). Their impact is assessed through citation analyses in the Web of Science database (e.g., the Social Science Citation Index). The impact of the references the founders cited as canonical to their own work is assessed in the same manner. Both sets of analyses include total citations and trends over time. For example, the ranking (and citations) of the five most cited empirical articles in the first issue of JABA are by first author: Hall (280), Risley (224), Thomas (191), Zeilberger (149), and Hart (98). Baer, Wolf, and Risley’s article has been cited 1071 times. |
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