Wesley Becker entered the field of psychology in 1955 with a Ph.D. in statistics and clinical psychology from Stanford University. He completed both his undergraduate and graduate work in a record 6 years, graduating Phi Beta Kappa after only 2 years as an undergraduate. He was definitely not a behaviorist in the beginning, but his great appreciation for data ultimately led him to behaviorism. He became an instructor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, in 1955, and by 1967 he was Professor of Psychology with an appointment in the Bureau of Educational Research.

Between 1961 and 1967, the direction of Becker's work began to shift from traditional clinical psychology to behaviorism. This shift of focus can be seen in the titles of his publications ...