Behavior Analysis

Abstract

This chapter describes the essential features of behavior analysis and behavior analytic theory. Its purpose is to show that behavior analysis more closely resembles a natural science approach than the developmental psychology described in chapter 2. The chapter begins by presenting the views on theory and research in psychology by the foremost spokesperson of behavior analysis, B. E Skinner. Next, it discusses several implications of behavior analytic theory, including those related to basic units of analysis, the conception of behavior and the environment, the issue of where the determinants of behavior are to be found, the role of inference, and the role of genes and physiology. Finally, a brief section concludes the chapter by contrasting behavior analytic and cognitive approaches to explaining behavior.