Perspectives on Behavior Science最新文献

In this article we respond to the recent recommendation of Slocum et al. (2022), who provided conceptual and methodological recommendations for reconsidering the credibility and validity of the nonconcurrent multiple-baseline design. We build on these recommendations and offer replication and randomization upgrades that should further improve the status of the nonconcurrent version of the design in standards and single-case design research. Although we suggest that the nonconcurrent version should be an acceptable methodological option for single-case design researchers, the traditional concurrent multiple-baseline design should generally be the design of choice.

Slocum et al. (this issue) provide well-reasoned arguments for the use of nonconcurrent multiple baseline designs in behavior analytic work, despite historical preference for concurrent designs (i.e., simultaneous baseline initiation) and contemporary guidelines in related fields suggesting that nonconcurrent designs are insufficient for evaluating functional relations (What Works Clearinghouse, 2020). I provide a commentary, highlighting major contributions of this article and suggesting areas of further consideration. In sum, I agree with authors that researchers should avoid wholesale dismissal of nonconcurrent designs. I also agree that understanding how multiple-baseline designs control for and allow for detection of threats to internal validity is critical so that authors can apply the variation of the design that allows them to draw confident conclusions about relations between independent and dependent variables.

The Argentine poet Jorge Luis Borges may have come closer than anyone else to envisioning a radical behavioristic aesthetics. What he said about poetry can be generalized to other art forms: that poetry happens when someone reads a poem. Art, therefore, is the behavioral episode in which someone responds to the stimuli arranged by the artist. Because each person that comes into contact with a work of art has a different history with the work and its elements, responding will vary widely for persons and for the same person at different times. An essential feature of this history is the network of derived relations involving the elements of the artwork, and the transfer and transformation of behavioral functions across this network.

Human behavioral pharmacology methods have been used to rigorously evaluate the effects of a range of centrally acting drugs in humans under controlled conditions for decades. Methods like drug self-administration and drug discrimination have been adapted from nonhuman laboratory animal models. Because humans have the capacity to communicate verbally, self-report methods are also commonly used to understand drug effects. This perspective article provides an overview of these traditional human behavioral pharmacology methods and introduces some novel methodologies that have more recently been adapted for use in the field. Design (e.g., using placebo controls, testing multiple doses) and ethical (e.g., avoiding enrollment of individuals seeking treatment, determining capacity to consent) considerations that must be addressed when conducting these types of studies are also described.

Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) is a self-report method that involves intensive longitudinal assessment of behavior and environmental conditions during everyday activities. EMA has been used extensively in health and clinical psychology to investigate a variety of health behaviors, including substance use, eating, medication adherence, sleep, and physical activity. However, it has not been widely implemented in behavior analytic research. This is likely an example of the empirically based skepticism with which behavioral scientists view self-report measures. We reviewed studies comparing electronic, mobile EMA (mEMA) to more objective measures of health behavior to explore the validity of mEMA as a measurement tool, and to identify procedures and factors that may promote the accuracy of mEMA. We identified 32 studies that compared mEMA to more objective measures of health behavior or environmental events (e.g., biochemical measures or automated devices such as accelerometers). Results showed that the correspondence rates varied considerably across individuals, behavior, and studies (agreement rates ranged from 1.8%-100%), and no unifying variables could be identified across the studies that found high correspondence. The findings suggest that mEMA can be an accurate measurement tool, but further research should be conducted to identify procedures and variables that promote accurate responding.

Applied behavior analysis (ABA), the practical wing of behavior science, is defined by its focus on socially significant behavior and characterized by an assumed relevance to every domain of it. Although advocates claim ABA has world-changing potential, disagreements exist about how well the science has met its potential for far-ranging social significance. To advance this discussion, we present an extensive list of socially significant behavior domains to which ABA has given empirical attention. The list demonstrates the broad applicability of behavior analysis and suggests some themes future researchers could emphasize to help ABA achieve world-changing impact.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40614-022-00336-z.

This manuscript provides a comprehensive overview of the impact of applied behavior analysis (ABA) on children and youth with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Seven online databases and identified systematic reviews were searched for published, peer-reviewed, English-language studies examining the impact of ABA on health outcomes. Measured outcomes were classified into eight categories: cognitive, language, social/communication, problem behavior, adaptive behavior, emotional, autism symptoms, and quality of life (QoL) outcomes. Improvements were observed across seven of the eight outcome measures. There were no included studies that measured subject QoL. Moreover, of 770 included study records, only 32 (4%) assessed ABA impact, had a comparison to a control or other intervention, and did not rely on mastery of specific skills to mark improvement. Results reinforce the need for large-scale prospective studies that compare ABA with other non-ABA interventions and include measurements of subject QoL to provide policy makers with valuable information on the impacts of ABA and other existing and emerging interventions.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40614-022-00338-x.

Although much has been written on the importance of translational research for bridging the continuum of basic science to clinical practice, few authors have described how such work can be carried out practically when working with patient populations in the context of ongoing clinical service delivery, where the priorities for patient care can sometimes conflict with the methods and goals of translational research. In this article, we explore some of the considerations for conducting this type of work while balancing clinical responsibilities that ensure high-quality patient care. We also discuss strategies we have found to jointly facilitate translational research and improve routine, clinical service delivery. A primary goal of this article is to encourage others working in applied settings to contribute to the increasingly important role that translational research plays in our science and practice by helping to better characterize and potentially lessen or remove barriers that may have impeded such investigations in the past.

Countercontrol is a Skinnerian operant concept that posits that an individual's attempts to exert control over another person's behavior may evoke a countercontrolling response from the person being controlled that functions to avoid or escape the potentially aversive conditions generated by the controller. Despite Skinner's historical concerns regarding the detrimental effects of countercontrol in terms of hindering optimal societal growth and cultural evolution, the concept has not been widely applied within behavior analysis. Drawing from recent developments in rule-governed behavior and relational frame theory, this article seeks to explicate countercontrol from a contemporary behavior analytic perspective and presents several modern-day societal applications. In particular, a relational frame theory account of rule-governed behavior is used as a framework to elucidate the behavioral processes by which rule-following occurs (or fails to occur) in the context of countercontrol. Implications of a renewed focus on countercontrol for understanding pressing societal issues are also discussed.

This article outlines a graduate-level course on the philosophical, conceptual, and historical (PCH) foundations of radical behaviorism, which is the philosophy of science that underlies behavior analysis. As described, the course is for a 15-week semester, and is organized into weekly units. The units in the first half of the course are concerned with the influences of other viewpoints in the history of psychology on the development of behavior analysis and radical behaviorism. The units in the second half are concerned with the PCH foundations of eight basic dimensions of radical behaviorism. Throughout, a course examining the foundations of radical behaviorism is seen as compatible with related courses in the other three domains of behavior analysis-the experimental analysis of behavior, applied behavior analysis, and service delivery-and as integral to the education of all behavior analysts.