Some things you need to know to be a behavior analyst and other considerations: an informal recollection with examples

Abstract

ABSTRACT I offer an interpretative recounting of my comments at the 2nd International Summit and Conference on Behaviour Analysis and Autism in Higher Education (Stockholm University, January, 2018). It is partially inspired by topics arising during the Summit, so is less straightforwardthan if expressly written on the same topics. I suggest that behaviour analysis has benefited greatly from its devotion to objectivity, and in turn benefitted many others through applied behaviour analysis. However, the field risks narrowness and isolation by devoting itself so greatly to autism and avoiding topics that do not easily fit its application-focused, contingency-based paradigm. I recount our history, give examples of sophisticated behavioural applications by others, and describe objective investigations of aspects of behaviour we do not emphasise. I argue that behaviour analysis would benefit by contacting certain non-behavioural areas, including requiring our students to take and attend non-behavioural courses and events.