ABSTRACT
The philosophy behind behavior analysis is behaviorism. Behaviorism includes an assumption of determinism of all phenomena in the universe, including human behavior, the methodology of empiricism for data collected via observation and experimentation, the logic of rationalism, the perspective of operationalism, and the questioning of scientific skepticism. Watson excluded private events from his methodological behaviorism, but Skinner insisted that feelings, sensations, ideas, and mental life in general be included in his theory of radical behaviorism. For Skinner, free will meant that people “feel free” if they are not under aversive control, and he promoted the idea of designing environments based totally on positive reinforcement. Behaviorists are considered different from behavior analysts; the former are usually academics with 102a philosophical bent, whereas behavior analysts use behavior principles to improve the human condition. Behavior analysts rely on data for decision making and challenge any treatments that are not based on evidence. As a field and collectively, behavior analysts follow Skinner’s lead and avoid the use of punishment, primarily due to the numerous side effects that almost always appear as soon as it is used.
