Behavior Analysis Design

Behavior analysis is a specific scientific approach to studying behavior that evolved from John Watson’s behaviorism and the operant research model popularized by B. F. Skinner during the middle of the 20th century. This approach stresses direct experimentation and measurement of observable behavior. A basic assumption of behavior analysis is that behavior is malleable and controlled primarily by consequences. B. F. Skinner described the basic unit of behavior as an operant, a behavior emitted to operate on the environment. Additionally, he proposed that the response rate of the operant serve as the basic datum of the scientific study of behavior. An operant is characterized by a response that occurs within a specific environment and produces a specific consequence. According to the principles of operant conditioning, behavior is a function of three interactive components, illustrated by the three-term contingency: context, response, and consequences of behavior. The relationship between these three variables forms the basis of all behavioral research. Within this framework, individual components of the three-term contingency can be studied by manipulating experimental context, response requirements, or consequences of behavior. A change in any one of these components often changes the overall function of behavior, resulting in a change in future behavior. If the consequence strengthens future behavior, the process is called reinforcement. If future behavior is weakened or eliminated as a result of changing the consequence of behavior, the process is called punishment.

Behavior analysis encompasses two types of research: the experimental analysis of behavior, consisting of research to discover basic underlying behavioral principles, and applied behavior analysis, involving research implementing basic principles in real-world situations. Researchers in this field are often referred to as behavior analysts, and their research can take place in both laboratory and naturalistic settings and with animals and humans. Basic behavioral processes can be studied in any species, and the findings may be applied to other species. Therefore, researchers can use animals for experimentation, which can increase experimental control by eliminating or reducing confounding variables. Since it is important to verify that findings generalize across species, experiments are often replicated with other animals and with humans. Applied behavior analysis strives to develop empirically based interventions rooted in principles discovered through basic research. Many empirically based treatments have been developed with participants ranging from children with autism to corporate executives and to students and substance abusers. Contributions have been made in developmental disabilities, intellectual developmental disorders, rehabilitation, delinquency, mental health, counseling, education and teaching, business and industry, and substance abuse and addiction, with potential in many other areas of social significance. Similar designs are employed in both basic and applied research, but they differ with regard to subjects studied, experimental settings, and degree of environmental control.

Regardless of the subject matter, a primary feature of behavior analytic research is that the behavior of individual organisms is examined under conditions that are rigorously controlled. One subject can provide a representative sample, and studying an individual subject thoroughly can sometimes provide more information than can studying many subjects because each subject’s data are considered an independent replication. Behavior analysts demonstrate the reliable manipulation of behavior by changing the environment. Manipulating the environment allows researchers to discover the relationships between behavior and environment. This method is referred to as single-subject or within-subject research and requires unique designs, which have been outlined by James Johnston and Hank Pennypacker. Consequently, this method takes an approach to the collection, validity, analysis, and generality of data that is different from approaches that primarily use group designs and inferential statistics to study behavior.

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