Experimental analysis of behavior

<p>The experimental analysis of behavior is a science that studies the behavior of individuals across a variety of species. A key early scientist was <a href="/facts/B._F._Skinner/cexUumu1">B. F. Skinner</a> who discovered operant behavior, reinforcers, secondary reinforcers, contingencies of reinforcement, stimulus control, shaping, intermittent schedules, discrimination, and generalization. A central method was the  examination of functional relations between environment and behavior, as opposed to <a href="/facts/Hypothetico-deductive_model/0x0KsY3w">hypothetico-deductive</a> <a href="/facts/Learning_theory_(education)/uuYQ4BHW">learning theory</a> that had grown up in the <a href="/facts/Comparative_psychology/BQVTrJ2C">comparative psychology</a> of the 1920–1950 period. Skinner's approach was characterized by observation of measurable behavior which could be predicted and controlled. It owed its early success to the effectiveness of Skinner's procedures of <a href="/facts/Operant_conditioning/8TqfQQGq">operant conditioning</a>, both in the laboratory and in <a href="/facts/Behavior_therapy/2N1n5BKp">behavior therapy</a>.
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Experimental analysis of behavior open-in-new

Experimental analysis of behavior