Go forth and be variable

Madden, Gregory J.

doi:10.1007/bf03392296

Cited by 5 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 31 publications

(28 reference statements)

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“…Horner and Sugai's (2015) paper suggests that many of these scientists still identify with applied behavior analysis (ABA)-this is a good thing. Variability is good for our science (Madden 2013), and our hope is that the orthodoxy among some applied behavior analysts does not damage this ongoing relationship. In our experience, there are at least three areas of controversy.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support as Behavior Analysis in Practice: Why Is This Even Controversial?

Jarmolowicz

Tetreault

2015

Behav Analysis Practice

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The inclusion of Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports as a type of applied behavior analysis has often spurred considerable controversy. This controversy seems related to at least three areas of contention: measurement issues, views on aversive control, and the overall target of treatment. The present paper discusses these three areas in light of Horner and Sugai's target article and the current state of the field of applied behavior analysis. In the end, the authors are left wondering why this is even an ongoing controversy.Keywords Prevention . Positive behavioral intervention . Punishment . Methodology Some time back, certain behavior analytic practices came to be known as Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). These applied practices, which focused on the use of positive reinforcement to the exclusion of aversive control, often incorporated person-centered planning processes in the core conceptualization of individual treatment and often focused on the class-or school-wide supports (Carr et al. 2002). PBIS was not a movement by fringe behavioral scientists, but rather from pillars of the behavior analytic community welltrained in behavior analytic principles and their application (e.g., Horner, Carr). Horner and Sugai's (2015) paper suggests that many of these scientists still identify with applied behavior analysis (ABA)-this is a good thing. Variability is good for our science (Madden 2013), and our hope is that the orthodoxy among some applied behavior analysts does not damage this ongoing relationship. In our experience, there are at least three areas of controversy.Area one is methodological. Horner and Sugai note that much measurement in PBIS pulls directly from the behavior analytic tradition. Many applied behavior analysts, however, criticize the proxy measures used in PBIS research (e.g., office referrals). They argue that these measures run contrary to the tradition of direct observation cherished by many applied behavior analysts. Although direct observation often is preferred to proxy measurement for determining intervention effects, the sheer scale of measurement, the topographical variation in the functional response classes targeted, and the risk of reactivity in many PBIS programs make direct observation impractical. These factors leave the researcher with two options: (1) do not attempt to answer questions of such large scope or scale, or (2) find a reasonable yet imperfect way to measure the effects of the independent variable on a behavior of relevance to consumers. In PBIS, the consumer is often a school or school district for which the orderly management of a classroom or other school environment is of primary interest. Much like a clean urinalysis reading suggests the absence of drug use in a participant in an intervention using contingency management, the fewer office referrals suggest less challenging behavior. We have little to say in favor of Option 1 as it betrays Skinner's all-encompassing vision for his science of behavior (Skinner 1954;1948) and...

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confidence: 99%

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support as Behavior Analysis in Practice: Why Is This Even Controversial?

Jarmolowicz

Tetreault

2015

Behav Analysis Practice

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“…The fact is you should be no worse for the wear. By adding the statistical test you can convince both EAB and non-EAB researchers (Davison, 1999;Madden, 2013).…”

Section: Making Friends With the Dark Sidementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Vyse (2013) argued that EAB should join mainstream psychology, expand its subject matter, and largely abandon traditional methodologies employing operant conditioning chambers and nonhuman subjects. Many behavior analysts with reputations that far exceed mine have recently commented extensively on these and other articles and the future of EAB (e.g., Kangas, 2014; Madden, 2013; Pietras, Reilly, & Jacobs, 2013; Podlesnik, 2013; St. Peter, 2013).…”

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confidence: 99%

The future is upon us.

Fox¹

2018

Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice

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The current status and future of the experimental analysis of behavior (EAB) have come under recent scrutiny. From the perspective of an early career scientist in EAB, I find the present and future of EAB to be as promising as ever, but real growth of the field will mean looking to greatly expand our science. The time is ripe to do so. EAB researchers should expand in new directions and collaborations, especially within behavioral neuroscience; seek to convey and sell their science and research to a broader scientific and nonscientific audience; and embrace new and different research methodologies and analyses. The future of EAB is bright-let us not let it fade.

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“…Several commenters challenge my assumptions and argue that the discipline is doing well enough as it is now. For example, Madden (2013) suggests that some of the current research being conducted in operant chambers is ''ground breaking and could, 20 years from now, prove to be more important than research conducted in the golden age of EAB'' (p. 141). Similarly, Podlesnik (2013) objects to my accounting of the methodologies used in a single year of the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (JEAB) and argues that the discipline is not as insular as I portray it to be.…”

Section: Things Are Okay the Way They Arementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Of course, a single year of JEAB is a very small sample, and my view of the current state of EAB may be jaundiced. I may be falling prey to the Saturday Night Live effect, remembering only the good bits from the past and forgetting the bad (Madden, 2013). But several recent articles in this journal and elsewhere suggest that others believe things are not as they could or should be (Fantino, 2008;Friman, 2010;Poling, 2010).…”

Section: Things Are Okay the Way They Arementioning

confidence: 99%

Changing course: A reply

Vyse

2013

BEHAV ANALYST

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Go forth and be variable

Cited by 5 publications

References 31 publications

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support as Behavior Analysis in Practice: Why Is This Even Controversial?

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support as Behavior Analysis in Practice: Why Is This Even Controversial?

The future is upon us.

Changing course: A reply

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