This presentation was given at the Evidence-Based Solutions for Helping People Conference on April 18th, 2011.
About the presentation:
The search for answers to the causes of behavior originates with the advent of language and progresses from invented explanations through social scientific formulations to our present day natural scientific approach known as behavior analysis. This presentation traces this history with emphasis on the origins of measurement in the social sciences in contrast with the measurement practices of the natural sciences. The strategies and tactics of experimental analysis are illustrated with familiar examples. Emphasis is also placed on the cultural lag between discovery, application and cultural acceptance of revolutionary scientific advances such as evolution.
Learning Objectives:
- Upon completion of this presentation, you were able to identify the strategies and tactics of experimental analysis.
- Upon completion of this presentation, you were able to understand the history of ABA with its origins of measurement in the social sciences.
- Upon completion of this presentation, you were able to recognize the cultural lag between discovery, application and cultural acceptance of revolutionary scientific advances such as evolution.
About the Presenter:
Professor emeritus at the University of Florida, Dr. Pennypacker has been a major figure in behavior analysis through his contributions in research, teaching, and service. He has also made significant contributions to instructional design through his work in precision teaching, and his book (with James M. Johnston), Strategies and Tactics of Behavioral Research, now in its third edition, has become a classic and essential reference on methodology in behavior analysis. Many of his students have become major figures themselves, especially in applied behavior analysis. He helped to establish Florida as a model for behavior-based treatment in the area of developmental disabilities. He is perhaps best known both within and outside the field as the developer of methods and devices for effective training of self-examination for breast cancer and founded a company (Mammatech) to further this potentially life-saving effort. This work has been widely recognized in the behavioral medicine and cancer prevention communities. He served as ABAI president in 1986-1987 and has been a very active trustee of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies.