Behavior analysis was born in a department of psychology, in a college of liberal arts. From there its influence and effects spread not only throughout the university but also to myriad applied settings that could only be imagined at its birth. The Department of Psychology at West Virginia University, and particularly its Behavior Analysis doctoral training program, through its graduates, students, and faculty has contributed to the web of multiple influences of behavior analysis in contemporary society. As the influence of behavior analysis spreads from its birthplace in the liberal arts and continues to evolve, it also is important to continue to develop and build on that liberal arts tradition and not abandon it. In departments of psychology, like that at West Virginia University, behavior analysis contributes to students' understanding of not only the behavioral sciences but also the humanities and other sciences. Behavior analysis places other psychological viewpoints in a different perspective, suggests a unique worldview to many of these students, and challenges them to question the nature of their own histories and personal philosophies. Such influences in the shaping of the lives of generations of young people argue strongly for the continued commitment of behavior analysis to the liberal arts and to psychology.
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