Positive behavior support (PBS) emerged in the mid-1980s as an approach for understanding and addressing problem behaviors. PBS was derived primarily from applied behavior analysis (ABA). Over time, however, PBS research and practice has incorporated evaluative methods, assessment and intervention procedures, and conceptual perspectives associated…

This article demonstrates the impact of functional analysis methodology on clinical work, by describing the evolution of assessment procedures based on "brief functional analysis" methodology at University of Iowa outpatient clinics. It discusses the positive impact functional analysis has had on outpatient clinic assessment as well as…

Emphasis on technological precision and methodological sophistication in the field of applied behavior analysis has brought about a deemphasis of theoretical and philosophical concerns. For theoretical development of the field to move ahead, applied behavior analysts must develop the principles needed to describe ways of predicting and controlling…

This response to four commentaries (EC 608 302-305) on these authors' earlier paper discussing behavioral research methodology used with individuals with developmental disabilities (EC 608 301) contends that the original paper does not denigrate behaviorism and that practice needs to be informed by a variety of inputs regarding treatment decisions…

Included herein is the conference proceedings of the 27th Annual Conference on the Teaching of Psychology: Ideas and Innovations, sponsored by the Psychology Department of the State University of New York at Farmingdale. The conference theme for 2013 was: The Science of Learning. The Conference featured a keynote address by Victor Benassi, Ph.D.…

This essay discusses the significance functional analysis has had for applied behavior analysis of aberrant behavior. The methodology has lessened the field's reliance on default technologies and promoted analysis of environment-behavior interactions maintaining target responses as the basis for selecting treatments. It has also contributed to the…

To the extent that applied behavior analysis represents a scientific and practical approach to the study of behavior, its technological character is essential. The most serious problem evident in the field is not that the research being done is too technical but that more good research of all types is needed. (JDD)

This paper explores the reasonableness of expecting conventional experimental methodologies and research reports on behavioral interventions for persons with developmental disabilities to both support the validity of promising practices and guide the efforts of practitioners to implement those practices. New directions for research and practice…