Association for Behavior Analysis International

The basic and applied sciences of behavior analysis, and its practitioners, frequently refer to behavior principles. Indeed, one of the seminal text books in the field (Millenson, 1967) was entitled, Principles of Behavior Analysis. But what are these principles? Are they all clearly and well defined? Is there a widely agreed taxonomy of these principles? Furthermore, is the concept if a behavioral principle synonymous with the concept of a behavioral process or do principles and processes differ in some important way? Finally, how do behavioral principles (and possibly processes) fit into the concept of a behavior-analytic theory, and the ongoing development of a progressive science (both basic and applied) of behavior analysis in the naturalistic, functional-analytic abstractive, and monistic tradition of Skinnerian (radical) behaviorism? The primary objective of the proposed panel is to reflect upon these questions and to discuss and consider the need, if any, for the field grapple with issues as we seek to build an increasingly mature science of behavior that can articulate readily with other life sciences.

This discussion should improve the grasp of beginning and advanced behavior analysts of important conceptual issues.