Description
Springer Fundamentals Of Behavior Analytic Research 1995 Edition by Alan Poling Laura L. Methot Mark G. Lesage
By the end of his long life B. F. Skinner (1904-1990) had become one of the most influential and best known of psychologists (Gilgen 1982; Heyduke & Fenigstein 1984). An important feature of the approach to the study of behavior that he championed behavior analysis is the intensive study of individual subjects over time. This approach which is characterized by the use of within-subject experimental designs repeated and direct measures of behavior and graphic analysis of data stands in marked contrast to the research methods favored by many nonbehavioral psychologists. Skinner discussed the advantages of his approach in a number of books (e.g. Skinner 1938 1953 1979) but never devoted a book to methodology. Sidman (1960) and Johnson and Pennypack (1993b) did devote books to behavior analytic research methodology. These books are of excep tionally high quality and should be read carefully by anyone interested in behavior analysis. They are sophisticated however and are not easy reads for most neophyte behaviorists. Introductory-level books devoted entirely to methods of applied behavior analysis (e.g. Kazdin 1982; Barlow & Hersen 1984) are easier to understand but somewhat limited in coverage. Table of contents : Science and Analysis of Behavior. Designing Experiments. Conducting and Socially Validating Experiments. Data Collection. Withinsubject Experimental Designs. Betweensubjects Designs and Nonexperimental Methods. Graphic Analysis of Data. Statistics. Disseminating Research Findings. Index.