Behavior Analysis

Some of Law and Economics’ basic claims have come to be criticized as a result of empirical findings that question their viability. Particularly, the premise that agents consistently act rationally and with their self-interest in mind seems problematic. What the consequences of the criticism mean for Law and Economics’ tenability depends largely on the questions whether (1) some elements are unassailable to the alternative’s objections and (2) the alternative is a systematic whole. It is argued that Law and Economics may be salvaged, if it is minimized and its ambitions are tempered. This means focusing on the stable, a priori, elements inherent to it.

Choice denotes the behavior of selecting one course of action among several alternatives. The concept of bounded rationality and its derived heuristics and biases program describes systematic deviations from optimal economic choice behavior. Choice behavior may be so far from optimum that behavior should be remedied. Recent research shows that it is possible to manipulate the agent’s environment, prompt better informed choices, and steer course of action without coercion. This dissertation is concerned with socially-situated choice behavior and how cooperation may refer to the arrangement of contingencies that program for bestindividual and group-results. In one cultural-selectionist approach, the metacontingency is the conceptual tool and unit of analysis for capturing group choice behavior. Study 1 provides an account of how the concepts of contingencies and schedules of reinforcement may contribute to informing the sustainability of nudging interventions. Study 2 develops further the concept of a nudge, which is regarded as a subcategory of all environmental events, from a behavior analytic approach, and discusses the ethical implications of behavioral control; especially in the context of policymaking. Study 3 builds on a previous nudging experiment addressing environmental conservation behavior and places it into a behavioral systems perspective. Function, process and structure of a cultural system are analyzed with respect to the establishing metacontingencies to achieve better societal results. Study 4 includes a revisited prisoner’s dilemma game with delivery of cultural consequences and feedback to increase cooperation among three players. This experiment shows how cooperation may be modulated by putting the interest of the group before the interest of the individual. Study 5 is a systematic review and meta-analysis of feedback provision on organizational citizenship behavior: similar to discretionary effort, this comprises a form of cooperative organizational behavior. The results feature a weak size effect. A novel methodological approach to organizational studies is discussed, addressing the measurement of frequency and properties of feedback. Taken together, the studies propose to integrate hitherto separate conceptual and empirical traditions within the behavioral sciences affecting socially-situated choice behavior. It signals how the selection of cooperative cultural practices may sustain more sensible (rational) choices.

O objetivo deste artigo é refletir sobre alguns usos do laboratório didático de análise do comportamento no ensino de graduação em psicologia. Para tanto, serão estabelecidos diálogos com o ensino de ciências, área que já possui uma forte discussão sobre o ensino experimental em laboratórios. Observando-se as usuais justificativas para a utilização do laboratório de análise do comportamento como recurso didático, pode-se verificar que, da forma como geralmente se apresenta, possibilita o surgimento de questões delicadas sobre suas qualidades e atual pertinência no currículo mínimo de psicologia. Dentre essas questões, uma das que mais se destaca é relacionada à ética em experimentação com animais, visto que discussões políticas em torno da experimentação animal colocam em risco a existência do laboratório didático de análise do comportamento. Neste sentido, verifica-se a necessidade de reflexões sobre os usos e implicações do laboratório de análise do comportamento no ensino de psicologia.

The theoretical and conceptual basis for behavior analysis emerged from the fields of
experimental psychology, physiology, and philosophy, effectively melding theory with
scientific rigor. Behavior analysis has since expanded from controlled laboratories into
applied settings, including hospitals, clinics, schools, family homes, and communities.
Much of the early research in applied behavior analysis (ABA) included participants
with mental health disorders and developmental disabilities. ABA research for persons
with developmental disabilities is vibrant and expansive; however, there is a paucity of
recent research in behavior analytic assessment and treatment for persons with mental
health diagnoses. This article describes how ABA technology can advance mental
health services for children and adults utilizing a multidisciplinary approach to link
professionals from psychology, psychiatry, and other associated disciplines to optimize
patient outcomes. Discussion focuses on historic applications of behavior analysis,
opportunities, and barriers in the mental health field, and ways in which ABA can
contribute to a multidisciplinary treatment approach.

A growing body of research continues to demonstrate the effectiveness of interteaching in the college classroom.
However, to date, no studies have been published on the use of interteaching in rehabilitation education. The purpose of
the present study was to systematically replicate previous research by comparing interteaching to traditional classroom lecture in two sections of an undergraduate medical
aspects of disability course. Findings indicate students performed better on postdiscussion quizzes following the interetaching condition. Social validity findings also indicate the majority of students preferred interteaching and reported learning more when interteaching was in effect. The implications of these results are discussed along with a summary of future directions in this line of research.

This review provides a historical overview of behavioral teaching methods that have demonstrated efficacy across age groups, educational levels, and disciplines. In particular, we focus on a recent behavioral teaching method known as interteaching to highlight its effectiveness as a user-friendly alternative to the traditional classroom lecture. Applications of prior behavioral teaching methods will be briefly highlighted, followed by a more thorough overview of the empirical data to date supporting interteaching as an effective behavioral teaching method to increase academic engagement, learning, and satisfaction in the classroom. Key recommendations for pedagogy resulting from this research and a guide for future directions are provided.

This second volume of the "Introduction to Software Development for Behavior Analysts" series, as the first one, aims to provide accessible tools for students, professionals, teachers and researchers interested in developing behavioral technology with the helping hand of computers. This book is designed to get you started on specific fields in contemporary Behavior Analysis that have been making efforts towards this end. Remember: programming is not just for professional programmers, with a specific formal instruction or working to large technology companies. This is not the only possible scenario. Of course, this does not mean that you should not be pursuing specific training for problems you aim to solve. We hope this book will reduce entry barriers for the use of computing solutions in our community, and will also encourage the leadership and autonomy in more behavior analysts interested in solving behavioral problems with the help of computing solutions.

Rachlin's teleological behaviorism (TEB) can be understood as an attempt at enhancing Skinner's radical behaviorism (RB) problem-solving power (i.e., its effectiveness in solving conceptual and empirical problems), by means of changes in some of RB's constitutive guiding assumptions (to use here a Laudanian reading key). Among these changes, at least four stand out: (1) TEB's focus on molar (i.e., extended in time) operant patterns of behavior; (2) TEB's rendering of operant patterns as teleological (i.e., purposive, goal-directed), particularly in terms of "final causes"; (3) TEB's view whereby psychological phenomena (such as thoughts and emotions) all amount to molar patterns of overt behavior; and (4) its defense of ordinary psychological categories in behavior science. In the following, I offer a dialectical analysis between TEB and RB. My main claims here are as follows: (a) the historic-etiological account of functions provides us with a better modeling of goal-directedness than TEB, and such account is fundamentally consistent with RB; (b) TEB is right that overt operant behaviors compose psychological phenomena, but, by dismissing covert operant behavior, as well as reflexes and interoceptive and proprioceptive stimuli (all of which taken into account by RB), TEB neglects some ingredients of psychological phenomena; (c) TEB offers good reasons in defense of ordinary psychological categories in behavior science, with the proviso that its premises related to the ingredients that compose psychological phenomena are only in part correct.

One of the long-standing disciplines specialized in behavioral prediction and change - but underrepresented
in research on “nudging” - is behavior analysis. This article aims at feeding the behavioral revolution currently
underway, by debating the relation between the relatively recent nudging concept and its underlying behavioral
principles from a behavior analytic viewpoint. Our aim is to contribute towards a more comprehensive nudging
theory and technology, connecting two traditionally separate fields. First, we define nudging from a behavioral
analytic standpoint, integrating the traditional definitions in behavioral economics with behavior analysis. Then,
we discuss more than 40-year old behavior analytic research on nudging in a controlled setting, investigating
basic learning principles that make nudges effective in the laboratory. Closer cooperation between behavior
analysists and other nudging theorists, for which this paper lays the groundwork, will enable scaling-up and
sustaining such behavioral change at the policy level. By outlining the similarities and differences between
nudging and behavior analysis, we investigate how both approaches can benefit from each other. In particular,
nudging and traditional behavior analysis diverge in their respective focus on the antecedents and consequences
of behavior. Our framework, viewing nudges as a subgroup of all environmental events that may influence
behavior, has the potential to improve the choice architecture investigated by both disciplines. Finally, we submit
that ethical considerations need to be addressed whenever there is (soft) behavioral control involved, and suggest
additional avenues of research to further enhance behavioral scientific research.

The aim of this article is to discuss the following questions: Can neurophysiology reveal something new about behavior—something that we could not know only by means of behavior analysis? Can neurophysiology influence the way we think about behavioral relations? To investigate these questions, I present an example in which neurophysiological events controlled, in addition to behavioral events, the verbal behavior of theorizing about behavior. The example under analysis concerns the biobehavioral approach hypotheses about the operant-respondent distinction and the unit of selection. It will be discussed how information about the neurophysiology of retention contributed to this debate by sometimes favoring the ideas proposed by the biobehavioral approach, but, in some cases, by also providing evidence that challenge these very same ideas. I will argue that this example provides a positive answer to both of the aforementioned questions.

La toma de perspectiva se ha definido como la capacidad cognitiva para asumir el punto de vista de otro individuo. Es la habilidad que exhibimos cuando anticipamos la conducta y reacciones de otros, y permite imaginar cómo los otros perciben una situación, piensan o experimentan emocionalmente sus propias vidas. El grueso de investigación disponible sobre la toma de perspectiva se ha realizado predominantemente desde el enfoque cognitivo de la teoría de la mente. Sin embargo, las aportaciones realizadas se centran casi exclusivamente en la descripción de estructuras y procesos cognitivos inferidos, y arrojan poca luz sobre las variables reales involucradas. Por su parte, los avances en la investigación desde el campo del análisis de la conducta están permitiendo analizar y discernir qué repertorios relacionales están a la base de las habilidades de toma de perspectiva.

The modern zoo has been associated with two major behavioral welfare advances: (a) the use of training to increase voluntary husbandry care, and (b) the implementation of environmental enrichment to promote naturalistic behaviors. Both practices have their roots in behavior analysis, or the operant conditioning-centered, reward-based approach to behavioral psychology. Operant conditioning served as the foundation for the development of reinforcement-based training methods commonly used in zoos to make veterinary and husbandry procedures easier and safer for animals and their caregivers. Likewise, operant conditioning, with its focus on arranging environmental antecedents and consequences to change behavior, also provided a framework for successful environmental enrichment practices. In this paper, we outline the key individuals and events that shaped two of the cornerstones of the modern zoo: (1) the emergence of reward-based husbandry training practices, and (2) the engineering of environmental enrichment. In addition, we (3) suggest ways in which behavior analysis can continue to advance zoo welfare by (i) expanding the efficacy of environmental enrichment, (ii) using within-subject methodology, and (iii) improving animal-visitor interactions. Our goal is to provide a historical and contextual reference for future efforts to improve the well-being of zoo animals.

It is often said, especially in philosophy and the neuroscience literature, that Skinner defended an anti-physiological position on the explanation of behavior. Aside from this, behavior analysts who discuss the relation between behavior analysis and physiology usually emphasize the independence of these two fields. Amid criticisms of Skinner's allegedly anti-physiological position and behavior analysts' defense of their discipline as an autonomous science, there is comparatively little discussion of Skinner's positive views on physiology. The goal of this paper is to present an analysis of these views, taking into account Skinner's writings from the 1930's to the 1990's. Among the topics to be discussed are the definition of the object of study of physiology, its role in the explanation of behavior, and the relation between behavior-analytic and physiological explanations. I pay special attention to Skinner's use of physiological hypotheses in developing his theories of private events and perception, and I hope to counteract the ill-founded notion that Skinner was always opposed to physiology in the study of behavior.

Husbandry training and environmental enrichment are both important advancements associated with current behavioral welfare practices. Additionally, the use of training procedures has been proposed as a form of enrichment, with the implication that training can produce beneficial behavioral welfare results. This paper examines the concept of training as enrichment through three distinct ways training procedures could enrich: (1) training facilitates enrichment usage, (2) training modifies interactions, conspecific or otherwise, and (3) training expands behavioral repertoires. Within each category, the paper focuses on past research that provides empirical support for training functioning as enrichment, as well as related areas of research that provide additional evidence. Previous studies support the claim that training is enriching, with additional research necessary to better understand how prevalent and under what conditions training procedures function as enrichment. Future training research should examine these potential enrichment effects, including methodology that allows for comparisons to traditional enrichment, the use of welfare diversity/variability indices, and the effects of learning on trainers and trainees alike.

Conta a lenda que Newton, o físico, sugeria que suas importantes descobertas haviam acontecido porque seus conhecimentos encontravam-se "em pé" sobre os ombros de gigantes. Essa idéia foi literalmente trazida para o campo da Análise do Comportamento por Skinner, na afirmação de uma Ciência capaz de dar conta do Comportamento Humano. Esses gigantes a quem eles - Newton e Skinner - faziam referência eram outros cientistas que tinham olhado para a realidade e feito sobre ela algumas declarações a partir do método científico. Tais declarações, reunidas em obras, ocupariam o papel de ombros, e ao mesmo tempo de base, para que a visibilidade atual do objeto de estudo de qualquer ciência fosse mais ampla no horizonte científico.
Anteriormente, Skinner ja havia afirmado que a Ciência não era uma declaração da verdade: ela nada mais é do que o comportamento verbal dos cientistas. O que Skinner propõe é uma análise científica do comportamento verbal, inclusive do próprio cientista, para que possamos entender o avanço do conheicmento científico.
Behaviorismos é uma obra brilhantemente organizada  por Diego Zilio e Kester Carrara, que cumpre exatament essas funções. Em um tempo, nos dá plena consciência de qual é a nossa base, ou seja, sobre quais ombros nosso conhecimento atual sobre o comportamento científico repousa e faz-nos conhecer as raízes deste conhecimento. Em outro tempo, Behaviorismos apresenta uma análise muito mais do que histórica ou filosófica de toda a trajetória e vida dos gigantes-autores que nos permitiram olhar o horizonte mais ao longe e além. Destaca ainda as grandes contribuições e pinça as declarações verbais mais importantes desses autores primordiais. Projeta, a partir do crescimento do conhecimento construído até então, melhores direções e melhores focos para onde movimentarmos e inquietarmos nosso olhar. Para essa tarefa, os organizadores reuniram uma plêiade de autores experts em outros autores, que fazem-nos olhar para as bases e argumentam o quanto estão fincadas numa terra firme. à qual alguns denominaram um dia de Ciência Natural, e dentro dela um território que nos é tão caro chamado por muitos de Psicologia. Analisam, destrincham e interpretam com uma nova e surpreendente metabase aquilo que já foi projetado como cânone de interpretação do comportamento humano - neste caso especial, o comportamento verbal daqueles cientistas que construíram os behaviorismos.

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Prefácio.......Roberto Banaco
Apresentação.......Diego Zilio & Kester Carrara
Capítulo 1 - O essencial em B. F. Skinner (1904-1990).......Kester Carrara
Capítulo 2 - I. M. Sechenov (1829-1905) e os reflexos do cérebro.......Isaias Pessotti
Capítulo 3 - I. P. Pavlov (1849-1936): Do reflexo salivar às atividades nervosas superiores.......Diego Zilio
Capítulo 4 - J. Loeb (1859-1924): O comportamento dos organismos na pré-história do behaviorismo.......Alexandre Dittrich
Capítulo 5 - E. L. Thorndike (1874-1949): Revolução e contrarrevolução.......José Antônio Damásio Abib
Capítulo 6 - O behaviorismo clássico de John B. Watson (1878-1958).......Bruno Angelo Strapasson
Capítulo 7 - A. P. Weiss (1879-1931): A theoretical basis of human behavior.......Robert H. Wozniak
Capítulo 8 - G. H. Mead (1863-1931): Um autor, diversas possibilidades.......Renato Ferreira de Souza & Maria do Carmo Guedes
Capítulo 9 - E. R. Guthrie (1886-1959): A behaviorism for everyone.......John Malone
Capítulo 10 - The neobehaviorism of K. W. Spence (1907-1967).......Jay Moore
Capítulo 11 - La psicologia interconductual de J. R. Kantor (1888-1984).......Emilio Ribes Iñesta & Ricardo Pérez-Almonacid