CHAPTER 1 An Introduction to Applied Behavior Analysis of Language and Cognition Linda J. Hayes University of Nevada, Reno Progress toward a natura...

CHAPTER 1 An Introduction to Applied Behavior Analysis of Language and Cognition Linda J. Hayes University of Nevada, Reno Progress toward a natural science of behavior has been delayed by a number of difficulties. The first of these—the attribution of causal status to nonmaterial entities—has been overcome by the exclusion of hypothetical, nonnatural elements and their powers from the events making up the subject matter of a science of behavior (Kantor, 1924). While not all behavior scientists have forfeited the right to postulate unobserved entities for purposes of explanation, the need for such entities and their forces is proportional to the absence of information derived from observational sources. Hence, advances in observational methods and technologies may be expected to make such distractions increasingly unnecessary. A second difficulty pertains to the definition of a unit behavioral event. The units of analysis problem has been resolved, for the most part, by sacrificing the uniqueness of individual responses for the affordances of response class constructions. More than one such unit has been proposed, though Skinner’s (1938) concept of the operant has proven particularly valuable. The criteria proposed by Skinner for the membership of responses in operant classes included their conditions of occurrence, a provision enabling not merely prediction but also control over class member occurrences. Further, because prediction and control of class member occurrences are more readily demonstrated when such occurrences are taking place at high frequencies, Skinner (1953) proposed that preliminary investigations focus on simple responses of arbitrary form that could occur at high frequencies without significant fatigue for extended periods of time. The notion was that this preparation would permit for the development of laws and principles of behavior that, subsequently, would be applicable to more complex, nonarbitrary forms of resp