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| SQAB Panel: The Contributions of A. C. Catania to Behavior Analysis |
| Saturday, May 24, 2025 |
| 12:00 PM–12:50 PM |
| Convention Center, Street Level, 140 A |
| Area: PCH; Domain: Theory |
| CE Instructor: Timothy D. Hackenberg, Ph.D. |
| Chair: Peter R. Killeen (Arizona State University) |
| R. DOUGLAS GREER (Professor Emeritus Columbia University Teachers College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences) |
| TIMOTHY D. HACKENBERG (Reed College) |
| JULIAN C. LESLIE (Ulster University) |
| SUZANNE H. MITCHELL (Oregon Health & Science University) |
| MARK P. REILLY (Central Michigan University) |
| FEDERICO SANABRIA (Arizona State University) |
| WILLIAM DAVID STAHLMAN (University of Mary Washington) |
| Abstract: In this “Catania-Fest”, we gather to celebrate the many contributions of AC Catania—Charlie Catania. Charlie has been a major figure in our field ab ovo. His contributions range from empirical articles that have been cited over 1000 times; theoretical articles clarifying conceptual foundations; understanding the relation between instructional- and contingency-controlled behavior; demonstration of the preference of animals for free, as opposed to forced choice; and a championing of the seminal papers of BF Skinner. Charlie was an early editor of the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, and has published notable text books on learning from a behavioral perspective. In this first tutorial session, a number of senior behavior analysts will comment on how Catania’s publications has made a difference in their own work, and in the direction of the field. |
| Instruction Level: Basic |
| Target Audience: All behavior analysists; some behaviorists; and most students of behavior. |
Learning Objectives: 1. Learn to admire fertile genius.
2. Why do so many colleagues admire the contributions of Catania? Name 2 you esteem, and why.
3. Some critics have called behavior analysis rigid and mechanistic. Challenge that evaluation by drawing on the work of Catania.
4. Catania has contributed to our profession by a) being a consummate experimentalist, b) a creative theoretician, c) a philosopher of behaviorism, and d) an able disseminator of our ideas—an early editor of JEAB, an editor alongside Skinner in the Brain and Behavioral Sciences presentation of Skinner’s critical papers, and the author of several successful textbooks of behavior analysis. Which of these is most important, in the sense that if you had one contribution to make, which of these would it be? Why? |
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