It often feels like the board is asking candidates to study concepts you may never use in practice. PTB co-founder Dana Meller explains why that’s actually inaccurate. The philosophical assumptions underlying the science of behavior analysis is so much more integral than just passing the big exam.
Dana Do’s: What Do Philosophical Assumptions Got To Do With It? Read More
PTB co-founder Dana Meller offers a relatable cause-and-effect scenario that helps discriminate between determinism and pragmatism.
Refer to BCBA® Task List (5th ed.) Section A-2: Explain the philosophical assumptions underlying the science of behavior analysis (e.g., selectionism, determinism, empiricism, parsimony, pragmatism).
Dana Do’s: What’s the Difference Between Pragmatism and Determinism? Read More
The first level of scientific understanding which involves deriving quantifiable and classifiable facts (data) from systematically observed events.
A philosophical assumption underlying the science of behavior analysis that the world is an orderly, predictable, and lawful place where all events occur as a product of cause and effect.
A dimension of ABA, which explains that ABA procedures should result in a practical, socially significant improvement in a person’s life.
A philosophical assumption underlying the science of behavior analysis that knowledge is built on objective observation and measurement (data).
A branch of behavior analysis that deals with research on basic processes and principles and is mainly conducted in laboratories.
A philosophical assumption underlying the science of behavior analysis that a controlled comparison of the dependent variable under two or more conditions (independent variables) is required to assess if one
A mentalistic and mythical explanation for behavior that attributes unobservable processes to the occurrence of the behavior.
A dimension of ABA, which explains that any behavior change should persist across time, settings, behaviors, and people that differ from the original intervention conditions.
Presumed, but unobserved processes and subjective ideas that, in mentalism, are used to explain behavior and/or its causes.
A philosophical assumption underlying the science of behavior analysis that the simplest theory requiring the fewest assumptions must be ruled out before considering more complex explanations.