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We humans are faced with an interesting problem: That which we
think we un derstand the most-our own behavior-we probably
understand the least. On the eve of a new millennium. the planet is
beset by a host of problems that are. for the most part. caused by
human behavior. Ironically. although it seems that the greatest
impact of our behavior is on the planet and its other inhabitants.
we may actually be threatening our own future the most. For
example. we have caused untold harm to the air we breathe. to the
water we drink. and. by exten sion. to much of the food we eat.
More important perhaps. we have created a so ciety in which. among
other things. many people are anxious and depressed. young women
starve themselves. and alcohol and cigarette use are responsible
for hundreds of thousands of cases of illness and death every year.
And humans still murder one another at an astounding rate. while at
the same time continu ing to affirm the value of human life. At a
time when it is critical that our chil dren become educated. more
and more children are not learning the basic skills they will need
to think logically so that they can begin to solve the world's
problems. The question may be not "Can the planet survive?" but.
rather. "Can we humans survive and change our own destructive
actions?" Although many scholars. philosophers.
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.
Psychology: A Behavioral Overview is an introductory text with an
orienting per spective that is frankly behavioral rather than
eclectic. This focus is made quite clear in the first chapter of
the book, but in the remainder it also becomes clear that such a
focus permits coverage of most of the topics found in the more
common introductory text. Actually, the next five chapters (dealing
with psy chology as a scienc~, methodology, evolution, physiology,
and learning) are in many ways comparable to the treatments
provided in more eclectic introductory texts. The behavioral focus
and the departure from traditional approaches be come most
significant in the last six chapters which deal with traditional
psycho logical topics (e. g. , language, child development, and
personality)-but deal with them systematically in terms of the
concepts and principles introduced in the chapters on evolution and
physiology, and especially in the chapter on learning. Using the
concepts provided early in the text to interpret complex aspects of
human behavior provides valuable justification for those concepts,
as well as an opportunity for improved understanding of them.
Although students will not make extensive contact with the variety
of the oretical approaches found in the typical text, they will
become especially compe tent in the use of behavioral concepts and
principles to interpret and understand many of the topics of
traditional importance in psychology.
The branch of clinical psychology known as behavior modification
or, synonymously, applied behavior analysis, has grown
substantially from humble beginnings in the 1960s. Many colleges
and universities now offer courses in applied behavior analysis,
and more than a few grant degrees in the area. Although they remain
controversial, behavior mod ification procedures have been used to
good advantage in dealing with a range of problem behaviors and are
now rather widely employed in schools, residential institutions,
and other therapeutic facilities. The two hallmarks of applied
behavior analysis are utilization of the principles of operant
conditioning to improve human behavior and utilization of
scientific research methodology to assess the effectiveness of
treatments. The present text provides an overview of several issues
peculiar to applied behavior analysis research methodology. Six
general areas of concern are (a) trends in applied behavior
analysis research, (b) assessment and measurement issues, (c)
experimental designs and strategies, (d) interpretation of
findings, (e) ethical issues in applied behavior analysis, and (f)
the societal impact of studies in the area. As evidenced by a
sizable number of recently published articles, these topics are of
considerable interest to behavior analysts. They also are relevant
for students of scientific epistemology and general psychological
research methods."
vii Drugs and sex are two topics about which most people have
strong opinions and weak understanding. Knowledge of each can be
gained in many ways, all with associated rewards and risks. Like
all textbooks, this one was written in the belief that reading can
foster learning. The book is intended to introduce principles of
behavioral pharmacology to readers with little or no knowledge of
the discipline but with an interest in how drugs affect human
behavior. Gleaning anything of value from the text requires two
things from the reader. The first is a willingness to accept an
analysis of drug effects that shares little with folklore or common
sense no tions of drug action. The second is a willingness to
accept the fact that the behavioral effects of drugs are complex
and depend upon a sizable number of pharmacological and behavioral
variables. Unless one is aware of these factors and how they
determine a drug's actions, the behavioral effects of drugs can be
neither pre dicted nor meaningfully explained. If it does nothing
else, this volume will make it obvious that the behavioral effects
of drugs are lawful and can be predicted and understood on the
basis of well-established relations between empirical phenomena. De
scribing these relations and exploring how they allow behavioral ix
x PREFACE pharmacologists to make sense of drug effects that are
otherwise incomprehensible was a major goal in preparing the text."
We humans are faced with an interesting problem: That which we
think we un derstand the most-our own behavior-we probably
understand the least. On the eve of a new millennium. the planet is
beset by a host of problems that are. for the most part. caused by
human behavior. Ironically. although it seems that the greatest
impact of our behavior is on the planet and its other inhabitants.
we may actually be threatening our own future the most. For
example. we have caused untold harm to the air we breathe. to the
water we drink. and. by exten sion. to much of the food we eat.
More important perhaps. we have created a so ciety in which. among
other things. many people are anxious and depressed. young women
starve themselves. and alcohol and cigarette use are responsible
for hundreds of thousands of cases of illness and death every year.
And humans still murder one another at an astounding rate. while at
the same time continu ing to affirm the value of human life. At a
time when it is critical that our chil dren become educated. more
and more children are not learning the basic skills they will need
to think logically so that they can begin to solve the world's
problems. The question may be not "Can the planet survive?" but.
rather. "Can we humans survive and change our own destructive
actions?" Although many scholars. philosophers."
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."
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