SAUL AXELROD
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY
EMERITUS
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MAJORING IN MATH AT TEMPLE UNIVERSITY.
BEING A COMPUTER PROGRAMMER AT
GENERAL ELECTRIC FOR FOUR YEARS – THE
DARK YEARS.
STUDYING PSYCHOLOGY AND SPECIAL
EDUCATION AT FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY.
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A WORD ABOUT BEING IN SPECIAL
EDUCATION….
SPECIAL EDUCATION BELIEVES IN USING AN
INDEPENDENT VARIABLE AND THAT
INDEPENDENT VARIABLE IS INSTRUCTION.
THIS MAY NOT BE TRUE FOR REGULAR
EDUCATION.
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ABA AND THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS IN
1970. THE PIONEERS OF ABA.
THE UNIQUENESS OF VANCE HALL AS AN
ABA- HIS BACKGROUND AND HIS WORK.
THERE WAS SOMETHING DIFFERENT ABOUT
VANCE’S WORK AND HIS PERSONALITY.
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DOING A POST- DOCTORATE AT THE JUNIPER
GARDENS CHILDREN’S PROJECT AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS IN 1970 WITH VANCE
HALL - THE LIGHT YEAR.
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GOALS I SET FOR MY CAREER
AS AN ACADEMICIAN…
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1. MAKE COMPLEX MATERIAL AS EASY TO
UNDERSTAND AS POSSIBLE.
2. DISSEMINATE INTERVENTIONS THAT ARE
POWERFUL AND EASY TO APPLY.
3. HELP MAKE ABA INTO A MAINSTREAMED
REGULAR – EDUCATION METHODOLOGY.
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4. HAVE ABA BE A PART OF EVERY FUTURE
TEACHER’S PROGRAM AT TEMPLE.
My preference for teaching introductory and
undergraduate classes.
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THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT 19701972.
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FORTY HAPPY YEARS AT TEMPLE UNIVERSITY
FROM 1972- 2011.
A WORD ABOUT THE IMPACT OF STUDYING
MATH ON MY CAREER IN ABA…
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IT IS BASED ON THE PRINCIPLES OF BEHAVIOR
THAT B. F. SKINNER EXPLICATED IN 1938
AND 1953.
• Remarkably, these principles are largely
unchanged ( Hineline, 2012)….
• That doesn’t mean the principles are easy
to apply in a systematic and enduring
manner….
• Harnessing the principles can be very
difficult…. This is basically what ABA’s
do.
• The problem is often temporal
discounting ….
The tendency of behavior to be
more under the control of short- term
contingencies rather than long - term
contingencies.
• Meanwhile, if Skinner got it right, this is a
major challenge to many other scholars of
many fields...
• Skinner had a lot of chutzpah!
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IT SOMETIMES USES A SINGLE – SUBJECT OR A
SMALL NUMBER (N) OF SUBJECTS IN ITS
RESEARCH.. ..
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A better descriptor than single subject or
small N research designs might be
within - subject replication designs.
MY RECOMMENDATION ON CHOOSING A
GOOD RESEARCH DESIGN….
WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS HOW WELL THE
STUDY IS DESIGNED AND WHAT THE
TREATMENT EFFECT IS.
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IT USES DIRECT AND CONTINUOUS
MEASUREMENT PROCEDURES.
◦ One of the benefits of this is that we can
quickly change our procedures if they
prove to be ineffective. This benefits the
people we serve.
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IT IS SELF CORRECTING.
◦ Continuous measurement helps to create a
self – correcting feedback loop. We may
make mistakes, but eventually get things
right.
TWO ASIDES ON SINGLE- SUBJECT DESIGNS
AND CONTINUOUS MEASUREMENT….
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IT LARGELY IGNORES INFERENTIAL
STATISTICS.
• The question asked in inferential statistics is
whether the difference in scores is due to
instability in the data or to the effects of the
treatment?
• We ask whether the problem has been
solved, or has the quality of life improved?
This requires human judgment….
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IT ACHIEVES EXTERNAL VALIDITY ONE
SUBJECT AT TIME, OVER MANY STUDIES, NOT
THROUGH ONE STUDY.
• We can say that what we learn about one
subject will likely be true of many subjects.
• We can also say that there is an order to
human behavior.
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IT VALIDATES THE IMPORTANCE OF THE
INDIVIDUAL.
• We do FBA’s; we do reinfocer assessments;
we take data on the effects of different
conditions; we do experiments within an
individual..; we have intensive training
programs often involving only one
individual….
We tell you how an intervention worked on
each subject rather than giving data on
the average person’s scores… similar to
practicing medicine effectively.
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IT IS VERY OPTIMISTIC.
• Look at the problems were are willing to
deal with…often remarkably effectively.
WITH ALL OF THESE DIFFERENCES IN OUR
APPROACH, IT IS NOT SURPRISING THAT SO
MANY PROFESSIONALS REJECT OUR
PRACTICES.
NOT MANY PEOPLE WANT TO HAVE THEIR
CAREERS INVALIDATED.
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1. NEW GRADING SYSTEM FOR HOSPITALS.
2. INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES
EDUCATION ACT MANDATES THE USE OF
FUNCTIONAL BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENTS
and BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTIONS
3.THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN WITH
AUTISM. .
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4. MANY OTHER AREAS IN SPECIAL
EDUCATION IN ADDITION TO AUTISM.
5. INDIA IS EXPERIMENTING WITH A
PROGRAM THAT GIVES INCENTIVES FOR
DRIVING DURING NON- PEAK HOURS.
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6. SOME EVENTS IN REGULAR EDUCATION –
◦ Classroom Management….
◦ Academic Instruction if the teaching materials are
immersed in computerized technology, such as
Headsprout.
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7. SMOKING CESSATION PROGRAMS….
◦ …. They often include functional behavioral
assessments.
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8. DRUG ADDICTION TREATMENT, BUT….
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9. WEIGHT CONTROL RESEARCH.
HERE IS WHAT IS INTERESTING ABOUT
6-9….
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10. THE FIELD OF ECONOMICS….
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REGULAR EDUCATION
ABA is mostly about the teaching process,
so what’s the problem?
It is largely philosophical….
Philadelphia schools of poverty…
My review of 3 years of two of the most prestigious
regular - education journals – Teachers’ College
Record and American Educational Research Journal.
I looked at three measures• whether the studies used ABA techniques;
• whether the studies used any instructional
procedure, at all;
• if not, did the studies examine the effects of any
independent variable?
• The outcomes….
• This doesn’t mean that regular education
teachers are not using ABA procedures.
They often are, especially in the area of
classroom management.
• Regular – education teachers often use high
rates of praise and have prizes for
appropriate behavior.
• My students experiences in observing in
classrooms…. A question my students
would ask me…
• The problem we have is not so much with
regular- education teachers, but with
regular – education academicians.
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GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY …
• The notable absence of ABA programs in
Psychology programs at the most elite
universities. When BA is mentioned….
• The APA website on classroom management….
By avoiding the principle of positive
reinforcement, Psychology is rejecting itself.
• This is interesting, given certain facts about
Skinner….
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POSITIVE BEHAVIOR SUPPORTS.
• It is now in more than 18,000 US schools,
including the general education - classes my
grandchildren attend….
• It is now in the Temple teacher education
curriculum.
• It is in IDEA and in many state policy documents
for educating individuals with disabilities.
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PBS ( continued)
• My own conflicted view ….
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AUTISM AND ABA
• This is our best work, and it should
continue…
• But it does create an conundrum…. We need
to be more involved in other areas,
particularly regular education…
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THE EVOLUTION OF SPECIES. THE EVOLUTION
OF BEHAVIOR….
• If there is a principle that unites physical
science and behavioral science, it is:
• EVERYTHING COMES FROM SOMETHING
ELSE. NOTHING COMES FROM NOTHING.
• Behavior Analysis is consistent with that
principle. Other approaches are not…
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AS WE APPROACH THE 60 th ANNIVERSARY
OF JEAB AND THE 50 th ANNIVERSARY OF
JABA, WHERE DO WE STAND?
• We are a small group, but a tenacious
group…. We are willing to put up with a lot.
There will always be a core of us….
• We will stick around. We might even prevail,
if we keep chipping away.
BE A BETTER PERSON THROUGH
APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS…
LIFE CONSISTS OF A LONG CHAIN OF
BEHAVIORS, AND IF YOU ARE LUCKY, THIS IS
THE POSITIVE REINFORCER AT THE END OF
THE CHAIN.
THANK YOU!