The third and highest level of scientific understanding. Established through experimentation confirming that manipulating one event (the independent variable) results in a reliable change in another event (the dependent variable), and the change is only attributable to that independent variable.

5th Edition Task List

A-1 Identify the goals of behavior analysis as a science (i.e., description, prediction, control).

6th Edition TCO

A.1 Identify the goals of behavior analysis as a science (i.e.,description prediction control).

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Science

An organized approach for collecting knowledge to inform our understanding of the natural world.

Prediction (in scientific understanding)

The second level of scientific understanding. When repeat observations show a consistent relationship between two events, the identified relationship can be used to predict the probability of one event occurring…

Description

The first level of scientific understanding which involves deriving quantifiable and classifiable facts (data) from systematically observed events.

Dana Do's: The Scientific Goals of Behavior Analysis

PTB co-founder Dana Meller takes on the first portion of the Task List with a quick lesson about section A-1. The secret sauce for understanding the goal of behavior analysis? It all comes down to description, prediction, and control.