Download History of Behavior Analysis: An introduction

History of Behavior Analysis: An introduction
by
Laura Azor Hernández
Mentorship project
Table of Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 2
Behavior Analysis .......................................................................................................................................... 1
Influences of 19th Century Psychology in Behaviorism ............................................................................ 1
Predecessors of Behaviorism .................................................................................................................... 2
Behaviorism .............................................................................................................................................. 4
Neo-behaviorism....................................................................................................................................... 6
From Behaviorism to Behavior Analysis ................................................................................................... 7
Suggested readings ..................................................................................................................................... 10
From Behaviorism to Behavior Analysis
Introduction
Behavior analysis is a branch of psychology devoted to the study of behavior. It is a
powerful theoretical and practical tool that’s been applied in several fields of science and society
in order to understand, change and control the behavior of humans and other organisms. Bx+ is
an organization that aims to create a collaborative environment where students of behavior
analysis are exposed to and pursue behavior analytic literature, philosophy and research. As a
part of the mentorship program, new prospects of Bx+ are guided through the completion of a
project in which new material is created, as to contribute to easily acceasable resources available
to the general public. This document is the final product of one of those projects. It would result
particularly useful for non-behavior analysts interested in knowing how behavior analysis was
originated. This document offers an introduction to behavior analysis as a scientific discipline,
taking into account previous events in the history of psychology that contributed to its founding
and later development.
Behavior Analysis
Behavior analysis is a branch of the natural sciences that studies behavior and its
application (Moore, 2008). This field has its roots in a revolutionary movement of psychology
from the beginning of the 20th century: behaviorism (Mills, 1998). Behaviorism can be traced
back to several earlier intellectual movements. In order to analyze its origins it is necessary to
mention experimental psychology, animal psychology and functionalism as essential antecessors
of this field (Chesia, 1994).
Influences of 19th Century Psychology in Behaviorism
Psychology was born as an academic formal discipline during the second half of the 19th
century (Schultz & Schultz, 2011). Founded by the German psychologist Wilhelm Wundt, from
the beginning it had as its main interest the study of mental experiences and it used
experimentation as a method for the collection of scientific data. According to Wundt, because
mental experiences could only be witnessed by the experimental subject, introspection (i.e.,
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examination of one’s own mind) was needed in order to obtain information about consciousness.
During this period modern psychology (i.e., experimental psychology) was born. Later, its
methods influenced the foundation of behaviorism.
Charles Darwin’s publication of “The Origin of Species” in 1859 gave place to the birth
of animal psychology. This branch of psychology was also a major influence for behaviorism.
Before the theory of evolution was proposed, science considered animals as automata, as
creatures that were unable to have mental experiences similar to humans. Darwin’s ideas
provoked a change of paradigm: according to his theory, there were no fundamental differences
between men and the rest of the animal kingdom, since both men and beast were part of a
common evolutionary process. This idea was later supported by the publication of, “The
expression of the emotions in man and animals,” (1872) where Darwin discussed the animal
origins of human behaviors related to the expression of emotions. In this way the study of mental
processes in animals began to gain importance, mainly because they were comparable to
humans. It was the English physiologist George Romanes who founded animal psychology and
systematized research in this field.
The theory of evolution also influenced the rising of scientific investigations that didn’t
exist before. According to Darwin, those behaviors that could be observed in humans had passed
a selection process and could be seen in our species because they contributed somehow to
survival; therefore, they had a function. Thus, the study of mental processes, which was first
focused in the structure of consciousness, started to question the usefulness of these processes
and which was their function during the lifespan of the organism. This new way of reasoning laid
the foundations of functionalism, which later contributed to the development of applied
psychology. The interest in the application of research was a similar characteristic between
functionalism and behaviorism in its first stage, as well as during its later developmental stages.
Predecessors of Behaviorism
By the end of the 19th century psychology was a well-established scientific discipline,
concerned mainly with the study of mental experiences. Data collection still relied on
experimentation. However, not all psychologists agreed with the value of experimentation when
compared to data collected using introspection procedures. The usefulness of the study of
From Behaviorism to Behavior Analysis
behavior rather than mental processes was made obvious by the development of comparative
animal psychology and the increased interest in applied psychology (Schultz & Schultz, 2011).
During this period, two main figures: the American psychologist Edward Lee Thorndike
and the Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov, focused their research in the animal learning field.
Their work became a strong influence in the birth and later development of behaviorism.
Edward L. Thorndike devoted a great part of his scientific career to animal psychology,
particularly to the study of learning by association, which he called “connectionism”. During this
period of his professional life, Thorndike focused on the study of behavior. Unlike previous
psychologists, he interpreted his results in an objective way, taking into account observable
phenomena and the relationship between stimulus and responses. One of his most important
discoveries was the “law of effect” (Thorndike, 1898). In this law Thorndike postulated that a
behavior followed by a successful consequence was “stamped in” the responses repertoire of the
organism. On the other hand, a behavior followed by an unpleasant consequence was “stamped
out” of the organism responses repertoire. Thorndike’s works regarding the study of animal
learning were among the most significant research programs in the history of psychology.
Ivan Pavlov devoted his scientific life to the study of physiology. He focused most of his
work in the research of digestive glands. His results in this field earned him the Nobel Prize in
Physiology and Medicine in 1904. Part of his work involved the exposure of salivary glands in
dogs. In this way, the salivary secretion could be observed and measured. During the
experiments, Pavlov noticed that salivary secretion, a reflex triggered by the delivery of food,
could also be observed in the presence of the food, even if it never reached the dog’s mouth.
Later it was demonstrated that the saliva secretion could be observed if the dog was exposed to a
neutral stimulus (i.e., an environmental stimulus that brings no change in behavior) that occurred
previous to the delivery of food or at the same time the food was being consumed. This principle
of learning is called “classical conditioning”. According to it, if an eliciting stimulus (i.e., an
environmental event which regularly precedes reflexive responses) is associated with a neutral
stimulus, this last stimulus acquires the ability to elicit the respondent response (i.e., the reflex)
(Reynolds, 1968). In this way, Pavlov explained the functioning of “conditioned reflexes”
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(Pavlov, 1903)1. The discovery of this principle is considered of great importance for the animal
learning theory.
The works of Thorndike and Pavlov promoted a paradigm shift in psychology in the
beginning of the 20th century. Psychologists that followed Thorndike and Pavlov’s approaches
began to focus their studies in the analysis of behavior rather than consciousness. They also
measured observable and quantifiable features in their experiments and gave their results
objective interpretations, frequently putting aside references to mental processes. This way of
thinking laid the basis for the founding of behaviorism at the beginning of 1900s.
Behaviorism
In the beginnings of the 20th century, experimental psychology founded by Wundt had
suffered great changes. Experimentation had prevailed as a method to collect data. However,
both the progress achieved by animal psychology and the interest in obtaining applicable results
changed the way in which psychologists designed experiments and interpreted results. The
principles of learning previously proposed by Thorndike and Pavlov were well known in the
scientific community, and had become strong influences for the psychologists of this period.
The American Psychologist John Broadus Watson was among the most representative figures
of this time. In the beginnings of 1900s, he explicitly proposed that behavior was meant to
become the main subject of psychological studies. According to Watson, all reference to mental
processes and consciousness was subjective and useless. Although Watson didn’t deny its
existence, he was against the use of mentalist definitions for the study of psychology. This way
of thinking gave birth to behaviorism, a term coined by Watson in the article: “Psychology as a
behaviorist views it” in 1913. In this document Watson clearly stated the approach he proposed
for behaviorism:
“Psychology as the behaviorist views it is a purely objective experimental branch of natural
science. Its theoretical goal is the prediction and control of behavior. Introspection forms no
essential part of its methods, nor is the scientific value of its data dependent upon the
readiness with which they lend themselves to interpretation in terms of consciousness. The
1
In 1903, at the 14th International Medical Congress in Madrid, Pavlov read a paper on «The Experimental
Psychology and Psychopathology of Animals».
From Behaviorism to Behavior Analysis
behaviorist (…) recognizes no dividing line between man and brute. The behavior of man,
(…) forms only a part of the behaviorist’s total scheme of investigation.” (Watson, 1913)
This article represented a sharp break with previous psychological trends. However, students of
psychology and young scientists of this field welcomed behaviorism and quickly started to apply
its principles in research.
In 1919, Watson published a book where he presented a more complete statement of
behaviorism: “Psychology from the standpoint of a behaviorist”. According to Watson,
psychology should use observation, the conditioned reflexes methods, verbal reports and
psychological tests as strategies for collecting data. Observation was considered the most
immediate way of measuring, and could be done with or without the use of instruments. The
conditioned reflexes methods were based on the ones proposed by Pavlov. They were focused in
the relation between stimulus and responses. However, Watson’s study didn’t concern the same
type of stimulus or responses previously discovered by Pavlov. Instead, Watson was mainly
focused on operant responses that showed a high probability of occurrence in the presence of a
certain environmental stimulus (i.e., a discriminative stimulus) (Reynolds, 1968). Psychological
tests were meant for the evaluation of individual characteristics in the experimental subject or the
patient. They could be used for the examination of the individual capabilities of a subject in the
development of a certain task or as statistical data.
Verbal reports were meant for the study of sensations: the experimental subject was
presented with a certain stimulus and he verbally reports his sensation in the moment the
stimulus was applied. They could also be used to obtain information about emotional states like
sadness or depression. In the behaviorist view, these phenomena were treated not as internal
causes of behavior but as observable behaviors that could be described in a direct, measurable
way. This method was particularly important in Watson’s approach. Despite having put aside
introspection, behaviorism continued depending on self-evaluation methods, which resulted in a
contradiction. For this reason, Watson’s proposal was criticized by behaviorism detractors,
which accused it for its lack of objectivity. Watson defended this position explaining that
speaking was in fact a behavior, and should be recognized as such by the behaviorist approach
(Watson, 1919). However, this feature of behaviorism continued to be criticized and was one of
the elements that changed drastically during its evolution.
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Neo-behaviorism
By 1920 behaviorism had already been established in the United States. Watson had
rejected all reference to mental processes and had proposed that psychology should be
recognized as a natural science, mainly focused in the study of behavior. In later years the
interest in objectivity that characterized the original behaviorist movement endured. Prediction
and control of behavior were still a priority for psychology. However, after 1920 and during the
1930s, the behaviorists’ paradigms had changed.
The new period was mainly characterized by the study of animal learning, as well as by
the use of operationalism (a trend that psychologists had borrowed from physics) in order to
define terms. Operationalism stated that a “concept” was synonymous of the group of operations
needed for its measurement (Bridgman, 1927). According to Bridgman, this group of operations
should be unique to every concept. Defining the psychological terms in an operational way made
it possible to dispose of concepts that were subjective or impossible to measure.
During this period there were several figures of American psychology that made notable
contributions to behaviorism. Edward Chace Tolman, Clark Leonard Hull and Burrhus Frederic
Skinner are among the most significant ones.
Before 1920, behaviorism was mainly focused in the study of physiological phenomena,
such as muscles movements or salivary secretions, which were considered the core of all
behavior. However, despite the success achieved by Watson’s approach, the interest in the study
of mental processes hadn’t disappeared completely. Edward C. Tolman was one of the
psychologists that were still concerned with this topic. He had made part of his career in
Germany and had strong influences from Gestalt psychology.
In 1922, Tolman published the article “A new formula for behaviorism”. This document
laid the basis for the beginning of a new trend that meant to use the objective methods of
behaviorism fusing them with the study of consciousness. Tolman meant to prove that non
physiological behaviorism was possible. According to his approach, once he would complete the
final proposal, the new behaviorism would be found capable of covering not merely the results of
mental tests, objective measurements of memory, and animal psychology as such, but also all
From Behaviorism to Behavior Analysis
that was valid in the results of the older introspective psychology (Tolman, 1922). In 1932,
Tolman published another document regarding this topic: “Purposive Behavior in Animals and
Men” (Tolman, 1932) where he thoroughly discussed his approach.
Tolman devoted most of his research to the study of rats in mazes. Tolman’s
interpretation of the results was very different to the Watsonian approach. Tolman considered
that animals behaved in order to reach a certain goal, and stated that the study of purposive
behavior could be done in an operational and objective way. To this aim Tolman defined certain
concepts such as the “intervening variable”, which was an internal, unobservable factor that
connected the stimulus with the response, and would help to ultimately gain control over the
organism’s behavior (Tolman, 1938). According to Tolman, the intervening variable was
responsible for the purposive behavior. Watsonian behaviorists were quick to criticize this idea.
Even though, it was used by neobehaviorists such as Clark L. Hull and B. F. Skinner to
operationally define terms like thirst or hunger that were previously considered as internal states
(Hull, 1943; Skinner, 1953).
Clark L. Hull was an important figure in the American psychology from 1940 to 1960.
Hull had special interest in bringing in the hypothetico-deductive method in the study of
behavior (Hull, 1943). He stated that there was a fundamental need to measure phenomena under
study. In his own words: “Science has no use for unverifiable hypotheses” (Hull, 1943). On the
other hand, Hull agreed with Tolman in the existence of intervening variables. He believed that
these variables acted as needs that functioned ultimately as causes of behavior. Thus, according
to Hull, the behavior of the organism was meant to satisfy these needs. Related to this
assumption, Hull developed the “drive” theory, which states that an organism behaves in order to
fulfill an innate biological drive. As was characteristic of neo-behaviorism, most of Hull’s
research was aim at the study of learning. His work contributed to strengthen objective
behaviorism within psychology.
From Behaviorism to Behavior Analysis
For decades, B. F. Skinner was the world’s most influential psychologist. Currently he is
still considered a giant of psychology, whose legacy has a great influence for modern scientific
and laboratory psychologists (Banaji, 2011). Skinner established a science of behavior,
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formulated its philosophy and founded behavior analysis (Morris & Smith, 2005). He is
responsible for establishing the “experimental analysis of behavior” which refers to scientific
research regarding this field (Skinner, 1938). He coined the term “radical behaviorism” which
refers to the philosophy for the study of behavior (Skinner, 1945). He also made great
contributions to the diffusion of information and the application of this branch of science in
several areas of society.
As Watsonian behaviorism, behavior analysis considers behavior as its main object of
study. However, Skinner’s approach departs from previous trends in several aspects. One of the
differences of Skinner’s approach in comparison to Watson’s was the use of verbal reports as a
method to obtain information about behavior. According to Skinner, this way of collecting data
was subjective and shouldn’t be considered as a method for the study of behavior (Skinner,
1945). Skinner also argued against the attempt to either ignore or only indirectly account for
private events. Instead, he maintained that such events should’ve been included in the object of
study of a natural science of behavior (Layng, 2011).
Unlike Tolman and Hull, Skinner considered that the causes of behavior weren’t inside of
the organism. According to him, behaviors didn’t have a purpose and did not occur in order to
fulfill an internal biological need (Skinner, 1953). Skinner believed that behavior could be
explained by specifying functional relations between the behavior itself and the environmental
circumstances in which it occurred, that is, there were independent variables of which behavior
was a function (Moore, 2008). He didn’t agree with Tolman’s use of internal “intervening
variables” for explaining behavior. According to Skinner’s approach, looking for internal
variables tended to obscure the variables that were immediately available for a scientific analysis
(Skinner, 1953). He argued that only external, measurable, independent variables should be used,
as environment was primarily responsible for the control of behavior.
Skinner made a great contribution to the formulation of a philosophy and a methodology
for the study of behavior. He also made revolutionary discoveries concerning this matter. His
findings transcended the boundaries of the laboratory both because of its theoretical repercussion
and its practical applications.
From Behaviorism to Behavior Analysis
After Pavlov discovered conditioned reflexes, great importance was given to research
regarding this subject. However, according to Skinner, the study of reflexes had been
overworked, since this group of responses explained only a small fraction of the organism
behavior (Skinner, 1953). On the other hand, Skinner was influenced by Thorndike’s work,
which had established laws regarding learning through consequences rather than focusing on
stimuli that occurred previous to a certain behavior. Thus, Skinner designed ways to measure and
control the environment that allowed him to explain how responses —other than reflexes— were
acquired. For this purpose, Skinner established the operant chamber as a method for examining
operant behavior (Skinner, 1938). His experiments led to the discovery of a fundamental
principle of learning: operant conditioning, which explains the functioning of learning through
consequences (Skinner, 1938). This principle broadly states that adding or removing a stimulus
after the occurrence of a certain response, influenced the probability of occurrence of that
response in the future.
Skinner’s contributions to the study of behavior represented the first steps in the
development of a branch of science that has international repercussions. As behavior analysis
expanded in the 1950s and 1960s, and subsequently became a discipline unto itself, its basic and
applied research and its conceptual programs developed into relatively independent branches,
defined in part by their respective journals: the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
(est. 1958), the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (est. 1968), and Behaviorism (est. 1972)
(Morris et al., 1990). In 1974 the Association for Behavior Analysis International was founded,
that is devoted to research as well as diffusion of information regarding behavior analysis2. Later
more journals continued to appear, contributing in this way to the development of different
branches inside this scientific discipline3.
Behavior analysis has been a strong influence for several fields, both in theoretical and
practical matters, since it has contributed to the development of new methods for solving
behavioral problems as well as in improving behavior modification techniques in different social
areas4. Among theoretical influences are the discoveries regarding learning and analysis of
2
https://www.abainternational.org/welcome.aspx
https://www.abainternational.org/about-us/links.aspx
4
https://www.abainternational.org/constituents/special-interests/special-interest-groups.aspx
3
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verbal behavior5, and the proposal of a unique approach for the study of behavior (Skinner,
1953).
Behavior analysis has been applied in education6 (e.g., TAG teaching7 and precision
teaching8), organizational behavior management9 and in clinical psychology, for the treatment of
psychological conditions such as autism10 and other intellectual disabilities. Its principles are
also applied to behavior modification in non-human animals11. By taking into account the
functioning of the laws of learning, behavior analysis have been used for the development of a
new animal training technique (clicker training), that lead to the outburst of a revolution in the
field during the 50s and continue to develop in present day12.
Suggested readings
Baer, D. M., Wolf, M. M., & Risley, T. R. (1968). Some current dimensions of Applied Behavior
Analysis. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1, 91-97.
Banaji, M. R. (2011). Reinforcement theory. Harvard University’s YouTube Channel. Accessed
Oct, 2015, https://youtu.be/YIEt6TrjJXw
Bridgman, P. W. (1927). The logic of modern physics. New York: The Macmillan Company.
Chiesa, M. (1994) Radical behaviorism: the philosophy and the science. Florida: Authors
cooperative.
Collin, C., Benson, N., Ginsburg, J. Grand, V., Lazyan, M., & Weeks, M. (2012). The
psychology book: Big ideas simply explained. New York: DK Publishing.
Darwin, C. (1859). The origin of species. New York: Collier and Son.
5
http://link.springer.com/journal/40616
http://link.springer.com/journal/10864
7
http://www.tagteach.com/
8
http://celeration.org/
9
http://www.obmnetwork.com/what_is_obm
10
http://autismpppsig.org/
11
http://animalbehavioranalysis.org/
12
http://www.clickertraining.com/
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From Behaviorism to Behavior Analysis
Darwin, C. (1872). The expression of the emotions in man and animals. London: William
Clowes & Sons.
Greenwood, J. D. (2009). A conceptual history of psychology. New York: The McGraw-Hill
Companies, Inc.
Hull, C. (1943). Principles of behavior: An introduction to behavior theory. New York:
Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc.
Layng, T. V. J. (2011). The hard problem: As the radical behaviorist views It. Invited paper for
the symposium on "The Hard Problem" in History for the International Society for the History of
the Neurosciences (ISHN) and the International Society for the History of Behavioral and Social
Sciences, University of Calgary.
Mills, J. A. (1998). Control, a history of behavioral psychology. New York University Press.
New York, United States.
Moore, J. (2008). Conceptual foundations of radical behaviorism. Sloan Publishing, Cornwall on
Hudson, NY. 453pp.
Morris, E. K., & Smith N. G. (2005). B. F. Skinner's contributions to applied behavior analysis.
The Behavior Analyst, 2(28), 99-131.
Morris E. K., Todd, J. T, Midgley, B. D., Schneider, S. M., & Johnson, L. M. (1990). The history
of behavior analysis: Some historiography and a bibliography. The Behavior Analyst, 13, 131158.
Pavlov I. (1903). The Experimental Psychology and Psychopathology of Animals. The 14th
International Medical Congress, Madrid, Spain.
Reynolds G.S. (1968). A primer of operant conditioning. Scott, Foresman and Company.
California, San Diego. 136pp.
Schneider, S. M., & Morris, E. K. (1987). A history of the term radical behaviorism: From
Watson to Skinner. The Behavior Analyst, 10, 27-39.
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Schultz, D. P., & Schultz, S. E. (2011). A history of modern psychology 10th Ed. Wadsworth,
USA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Skinner, B. F. (1938). The behavior of organisms: An experimental analysis. New York:
Appleton Century Crofts, Inc.
Skinner, B. F. (1945). The operational analysis of psychological terms. Psychological Review,
52(5), 270-277.
Skinner, B. F. (1953). Science and human behavior. New York: The Macmillan Company.
Thorndike, E. L. (1898). Animal intelligence: An experimental study of the associative processes
in animals. The Psychological Review: Monograph Supplements, 2(4), i-109.
Tolman, E. C. (1922). A new formula for behaviorism. Psychological Review, 29, 44-53.
Tolman, E. C. (1932). Purposive behavior in animal and men. New York: The Century Co.
Watson, J. B. (1913). Psychology as the behaviorist views it. Psychological Review, 20, 158-177.
Watson, J. B. (1919). Psychology from the standpoint of a behaviorist. New York: J. B.
Lippincott Company.