Review of Research Involving Applied Behavior Analysis in the Classroom

Abstract

If one describes a study involving an applied analysis of behavior to a teacher, she will probably remark, Why, what is new about that? I've been doing those things in my classroom for years! If the teacher were asked to describe what she does in her classroom during a day, a week, or a year, one might even get a general description of her behavior that would enable a listener to classify her work as a form of applied behavior analysis. The description that she gave might loosely fit some of the dimensions of an applied behavior analysis as discussed by Baer, Wolf and Risley (1968). These dimensions involve an evaluation of applied research as it relates to the criteria of applied, behavioral, analytic, and technological, conceptual systems, both effective and general. According to the above criteria, the teacher might have applied some principles of behavior to improve important behaviors such as acquisition of subject matter. She may also have quantified behaviorally her techniques by scores on tests, grades, etc. The teacher might have been analytic if, when she tried a specific technique and her students improved, the technique was then discontinued to see if the improvement deteriorated. Our teacher might also be technological, if other teachers can replicate her techniques. The teacher in question may to some extent relate her procedures to a conceptual system of basic behavioral concepts. Most teachers consider their techniques effective because the majority of their students leave the classroom at the end of the year with better academic skills than when they entered the classroom. Finally, most teachers would state that there is generality in the various behaviors that they effect. For example, the subtraction principles learned at the beginning of the year can be utilized in solving more complex problems such as long division. If one were to analyze critically the teacher's statements and her actual behavior in the classroom, there would be only a slight correspondence between the criteria mentioned above and the teacher's behavior. The lack of specific correspondence is explained in an article on behavioral modification in education (Homme & Tosti, p. 4).