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| Celebrating Warren Bickel's Impact on Behavior Analysis (and Vice Versa) |
| Saturday, May 24, 2025 |
| 10:00 AM–11:50 AM |
| Convention Center, Street Level, 152 AB |
| Area: BPN/EAB; Domain: Translational |
| Chair: Rafaela Fontes (Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC) |
| Discussant: Stephen T. Higgins (University of Vermont) |
| Abstract: Warren Bickel was an influential scientist and leading figure in behavioral pharmacology who significantly impacted experimental and applied behavior analysis. Bickel was trained as a behavior analyst and also trained many generations of behavior analysts. Among his main contributions to behavior analysis was the translation of delay discounting and behavioral economics principles to the study of addictions. He was the author of groundbreaking research that significantly changed our way of viewing and treating addiction. His innovative approach to the study of addiction not only contributed to improving our understanding of the disorder but also made many behavioral measures and procedures widely known by those outside of behavior analysis. In this symposium, some of his previous trainees and friends will talk about Bickel's work and his approach to science, highlighting how he was influenced by behavior analysis and the impact his research made on the field. |
| Instruction Level: Basic |
| Keyword(s): addiction, behavioral economics, delay discounting |
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| How Delay Discounting Jumped From Pigeons to People to Practically Everything |
| (Theory) |
| AMY L. ODUM (Utah State University), Gregory J. Madden (Utah State University) |
| Abstract: Warren Bickel was an innovator. He was unafraid to use concepts and techniques that most other behavior analysts rejected, like hypothetical outcomes, in behavioral studies. He put Howie Rachlin’s delay discounting procedure with imagined reinforcers to work on problems of social importance like drug abuse and addiction. Through these efforts, he set the stage, along with other innovators like Suzanne Mitchell and Harriet de Wit, for the veritable explosion of research on delay discounting. For Warren, using a concept from behavior analysis to its full potential overroad any need for orthodoxy. In this talk, I will describe his early work in delay discounting, illuminating the ties to foundational work in behavior analysis as well as where it took us. I will also emphasize his focus on clear and accessible writing. Both of these approaches, application of concepts beyond traditional confines and accessible dissemination, changed the trajectory of our careers and continue to have a strong influence on us and many others. |
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Of Past and Future Desserts |
| (Theory) |
| RICHARD YI (University of Kansas) |
| Abstract: Warren Bickel was an innovator in the application of intertemporal decision-making to the study of clinical outcomes. With an acute appreciation of the established principles of behavioral analysis and their potential application to the science of behavior change, his knowledge of the past allowed him to bet on the future. This presentation will cover some of Warren’s work linking the experience of the past to expectations for the future, and how that work circles back to his foundations in behavior analysis. |
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Burn the Boats, Not the Bridges: A Case Study in Warren Bickel's Approach to Translational Team Science |
| (Theory) |
| JEFFREY S. STEIN (Virginia Tech (FBRI)) |
| Abstract: Warren Bickel embraced translational science, pioneering the field of operant behavioral economics and conducting foundational research that bridged laboratory findings with clinical practice and public policy. Warren also embraced team science, integrating behavior analysis within a larger scientific community, including neuroscientists, policy researchers, physician-scientists, biostatisticians, clinical psychologists, and others. He built interdisciplinary bridges and galvanized the efforts of diverse collaborative teams toward a common set of goals. In so doing, he mentored generations of pre- and postdoctoral researchers to do the same—to leverage the experimental analysis of behavior against complementary expertise to pursue otherwise inaccessible research goals. As a case study in Warren’s (and colleagues’) translational team science approach, I will outline the history of research on tobacco product demand and substitution, detail its current utility in tobacco regulatory science, and attempt to forecast the road ahead. |
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| Everything Counts in Large Amounts: Warren Bickel's Approach to Knowledge Acquisition |
| (Theory) |
| MIKHAIL KOFFARNUS (University of Kentucky College of Medicine) |
| Abstract: Warren Bickel’s work was characterized by broad topical interests, and he often drew inspiration and influence from seemingly disparate fields of study. But by training and by practice, Warren Bickel was a behavior analyst. Permeating through his work was a theme of using science and observation to better understand human behavior. Warren’s research has been highly impactful to the field, but the instances of most influence are probably those where he bridged the gap between fields of study that do not commonly interact. By not constraining himself to study only those topics that comfortably fit within a traditional behavior analytic lens, he was able to see connections between fields that advanced behavior analysis forward and broadened what others chose to study. This presentation will focus on examples of Warren’s interdisciplinary innovations that have been influential to the field of behavior analysis and my own career, as well as a few stories and anecdotes that he left us with. |
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