It’s de riguer in evolutionary biology theorizing that behavior is integral to the survival of a species. But unless you understand behavior you can’t fully appreciate that nuances embedded in that notion. Indeed, when other disciplines invoke behavior they often greatly understate its power and complexity. Bear with me as I unpack an example. Demise of the Neanderthals During the past 7 million years or so, our planet always supported multiple species of hominins — until recently, that is. Once homo sapiens burst onto the scene, the days of other hominins were numbered. That’s the descriptiv ..read more

My last post explored how engaging with science humor can spur the development of beneficial relational repertoires. The specific focus of that post was satirical scholarly articles, but our reliable old internet also is rife with satirical news reports that draw upon, and in some way pervert, science. The key to profiting from such content, other than by scoring the occasional snicker, is to analyze the verbal behavior dynamics that it employs. To borrow from Epstein and Joker’s (2007) behavioral account of humor, key factors are what responses the real science topic in the article makes inc ..read more

2 In 1964, B.F Skinner (writing as F. Galtron Pennywhistle) published an article in the satirical Worm Runner’s Digest entitled, “On the relation between mathematical and statistical competence and significant scientific productivity” (see also Postscript 1). It’s reasonable to wonder how Skinner — who on the basis of published works may not be remembered as a comedic genius, or even someone given to public frivolity — arrived at this exercise, and honestly I don’t know the article’s back story (cf. Postscript 2). The article is, however, part of a long running tradition of injecting parody a ..read more

How do you Select Readings and other Sources for Teaching? Whether it is a textbook, articles, videos, or a combination of those, selecting sources to introduce behavior analysis to undergraduate students is critical for teaching. Learning and teaching basics of behavior analysis may occur in various contexts (e.g., online, in person, or hybrid courses, practical settings). The process of selecting sources to teach an introduction to behavior analysis can be fun and challenging. Keeping up with the research and advancements to provide a contemporary view of the field, while keeping some class ..read more

Sometimes the main thing I hope to accomplish with a blog post is to turn you on to something that’s fun to read. This is one of those times. If you’re at all a verbal behavior person, check out this easy-to-digest article with a linguistics theme from Atlas Obscura. Topic: the “Crispy R,” a minority pronunciation of the letter R that is hard to describe, but you’ll probably recognize it in a linked video that documents its pronunciation (or, go directly to this YouTube video, but be forewarned: the speaker demonstrating the sound is super annoying).  If the Crispy R is an onion, it has ..read more

1 PART TWO Guest Author: Janet S. Twyman1 Each post in this three-part series will contain a list of suggested guidelines to ponder. Part 1 covered universal considerations important for the ethical use of generative AI across many fields. Part 2, this post, covers more specific concerns directly relevant to behavior analysts and those doing similar research and practice. Part 3 addresses AI in organizations and systems and how this technology could affect organizational dynamics and ethics within a profession. Part 2: Ethical Considerations When Using Generative AI in Behavior Analytic Resea ..read more

This post was originally published on February 8, 2024. The fourth and final installment of the interview series described in this post has just beeen released on youtube. The series is essential viewing for anyone interested in verbal behavior and the place of behavior analysis in the broader scholarly community. You may not love everything Chomsky has to say. But everyone interested in spreading the gospel of behavior analysis needs to understand what others don’t get about the science of behavior — after all, we’re supposed to start with where the organism is, right? Chomsky is an importan ..read more

You need to add a widget, row, or prebuilt layout before you’ll see anything here. Introduction to the ABAI Practice Community Blog and Practice Board member co-author bios. Please note that this blog is co-written by members of the ABAI Practice Board.  In addition to the Practice Board member co-authors, today’s blog is co-authored by Sethe Zachman. We extend our appreciation for the individuals who shared their experiences and to Ximena Becerra for her contributions. ABAI Practice Board website. In the first three parts of the series on diagnoses, the lens through which we presented ..read more

In a  companion post I highlighted the 21st century behavior analysis articles that have had the most dissemination impact, as defined by the Altmetric Attention Score. Now let’s look at the articles that had the most scholarly impact, as defined in terms of citations. On December 15, 2023, I used the Altmetric Explorer app to examine the Dimensions Citations count for all articles published since 2000 in a variety of behavior analysis journals. [Please note that there are several different tools for tracking citations, and they all work somewhat differently. Results from the various too ..read more

1 Dear blog reader, Our next contribution is from the wonderful Dr Siri Ming. I first met Dr Ming last year in Brazil when she gave a number of incredible talks and workshops, in large part made possible by one of her supervisees, Dr Carolina Silveira de Almeida (who contributed a fantastic blog post of her own – click here) and Dr Joao de Almeida (who also contributed a lovely piece to this series on some of his and his colleagues efforts toward the dissemination of our science – click here). Although I had known of Siri’s impressive work in the field before then, what I was really struck by ..read more