ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the effect of major variables on the important behaviour of developmentally retarded people. Applied behaviour analysis may be seen as having the following characteristics: observation and data collection, interpretation, intervention and assessment of the effects of intervention. The practice of operationally defining response classes for assessment and observation purposes gives rise to two major issues of concern. The first is the reliability of the procedure and the second is the relationship of operationalism to a functional analysis of behaviour. I. Goldiamond has suggested that much operant experimentation upon which interpretation in applied behaviour analysis is based is unilinear, considering only the effect of manipulating a single variable on a single response class. The intervention strategy is a 'best guess' at the steps necessary to effect the desired change and the outcome strengthens or weakens the confidence of the clinician in his initial interpretation.
