ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the science of behavior analysis, especially as assessment of antecedents and consequences of behavior and as aspects of the environment that can be manipulated and affect behavior. Being responsive to an ever-changing experiment (i.e., learning) is an evolutionary process that has basic survival function. Behavior analysts discover the functions of behavior by conducting functional analyses. One much method is the A-B-A-B reversal design whereby the researcher determines if a certain functional effect (an applied consequence) does indeed control the appearance of a behavior. The causes of behavior for human and non-human organisms can be studied objectively and scientifically. Replication, validity, generalization, and assessment are also discussed as tools of science. The experimental analysis of behavior is a systematic set of tactics for the exploration of the controlling variables of behavior.
