B. F. Skinner’s contributions to applied behavior analysis

Abstract

Our paper reviews and analyzes B. F. Skinner's contributions to applied behavior analysis in order to assess his role as the field's originator and founder. We found, first, that his contributions fall into five categorizes: the style and content of his science, his interpretations of typical and atypical human behavior, the implications he drew from his science for application, his descriptions of possible applications, and his own applications to nonhuman and human behavior. Second, we found that he explicitly or implicitly addressed all seven dimensions of applied behavior analysis. These contributions and the dimensions notwithstanding, he neither incorporated the field's scientific (e.g., analytic) and social dimensions (e.g., applied) into any program of published research such that he was its originator, nor did he systematically integrate, advance, and promote the dimensions so to have been its founder. As the founder of behavior analysis, however, he was the father of applied behavior analysis.

B. F. Skinner’s utopian vision: Behind and beyond Walden Two

“…The promise of their solution was found in the application of behavior analysis to promote individual and community health, wealth, and wisdom. This was due, in part, to Skinner's advocacy for applications of his science to improve the human condition (see Morris et al, 2005), as well as what would be expected of any natural science: its application. Applied behavior analysis is a measure of the success of Skinner's (1948) utopian vision in Walden Two: to experiment.…”

“…Although a detailed description of them might enlighten us about how Skinner thought a utopia could be achieved in his own time, a more compelling assessment of his contributions to solving problems of individual, social, and cultural importance may be found in the literature in applied behavior analysis (see Cooper et al, 2007; G. Martin & Pear, 2007;Miltenberger, 2007), a field inspired and informed by Skinner's science (Morris, Altus, & Smith, 2005). We organize these contributions under the three themes, broadly construed, first as Skinner described them in Walden Two and then as practices in applied behavior analysis that Walden Two foretold.…”

A study in the founding of applied behavior analysis through its publications

“…And, in ''Pigeons in a Pelican'' (Skinner, 1960), he described efforts during World War II to teach pigeons to guide simulated missiles to precise destinations (see Capshew, 1996). For a review of his contributions to applied behavior analysis, see Morris, Smith, and Altus (2005). 4 Skinner's (1953) book, Science and Human Behavior, was also transitional.…”

A case study in the misrepresentation of applied behavior analysis in autism: The gernsbacher lectures

“…However, although I have published applied research and reviews (e.g., Altus & Morris, 2004;Atwater & Morris, 1988;Morris & Braukmann, 1987) and am a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst, I am not an applied behavior analyst. My interests lie largely in history and theory (e.g., Morris, 1992Morris, , 2003Morris, Altus, & Smith, 2005). As a result, I am not deeply attuned to applied behavior analysis's every nuance in science and practice, especially in autism, so I apologize to my applied colleagues if I am clumsy or insensitive in representing their field.…”