Impact of Science on Application Awardee
2006: Dr. Nathan Azrin
Dr. Nathan Azrin is a professor at NOVA Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He received his Ph.D. under B. F. Skinner at Harvard University in 1956. Azrin began his career doing basic laboratory research in operant conditioning, later shifting his focus to applied psychology, in which he has been a pioneer in establishing the field of applied behavior analysis. Many of the treatment/training programs he developed are now in widespread usage. Specific examples are the Token Economy or Point Reward Program (with Dr. Allyon); use of time-out; and effective self-care programs for retarded persons including toilet training, nocturnal enuresis, dressing, proper mealtime skills, self-stimulation, aggression, and self-injury. He also developed programs for non-retarded persons including alcoholism, drug use, medication adherence, tics, stuttering, Tourette’s Disorder, Trichotillomania, marital dysfunction, classroom management, toilet training, nocturnal enuresis, the Job Club method for securing employment for the chronically unemployed, parent-youth problems, and Major Depressive Disorder. The great diversity of problems he has studied reflects his conviction that applied behavioral analysis is a rich conceptual strategy with unlimited avenues of treatment applicability.
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