ABSTRACT

The experimental analysis of behavior (EAB) refers to a method of analyzing behaviorenvironment relationships. This method is called functional analysis. Functional analysis involves classifying behavior according to its response functions and analyzing the environment in terms of stimulus functions. The term function refers to the characteristic effect produced by either a behavioral or an environmental event. Once a reliable classi¿ cation has been established, the researcher uses experimental methods to show a causal relationship between the environmental event and a speci¿ ed response. Because of this objective method, behavior analysts need not restrict their ¿ ndings to one or a few species. The principles of behavior-environment relationships hold for all animals. Based on this assumption, and for convenience, researchers often use nonhuman subjects (e.g., rats and pigeons) as their “tools” for discovering principles of behavior, in the same way that geneticists use the fruit À y ( Drosophila melanogaster ) to establish laws of genetics.