ABA Needs a Salesman

The science of behaviour analysis needs a salesman. Those who study behaviour analysis are almost universally convinced of its rightness. The science is solid, it has a long way to go to be sure, but it has a solid foundation and for me and many others that is enough to convince me it’s something worth pursuing.

The foundational philosophical ideas of causal determinism backed by a rigorous objective metaphysics and epistemology make Radical Behaviourism a complex, satisfying and most importantly true philosophy of science.

But here is the problem; people don’t understand what I’ve just said. The man on the street is not interested in philosophical proofs or objective metaphysics - no, most people are concerned with one thing; does it work?

And this is where we fall down big time.

Behaviour Analysts have ample evidence that our methods work wonders for children with autism and other developmental disabilities. Unfortunately this is where our salesmanship ends. Behaviour Analysts and Behaviourists have done plenty of research in other areas but we don’t promote it.

This is an open call to Behaviour Analysts everywhere; we need to promote our work. That means shouting, very loudly, every time we show something interesting in our work. Every time we find a new way to solve a problem we all face as a society we need to push it relentlessly until everyone is made to listen.

Just a rant.

Peace.