An up-to-date approach to behavior analysis within the framework of evolutionary theory
Introduction to Behavior is a contemporary textbook for students in behavior analysis and other behaviorally-oriented disciplines. Dispensing with outdated models of behavior and reinforcement, this book adopts a new conceptual framework for the understanding of behavior, human and nonhuman. It will help students at all levels, particularly students being trained in applied behavior analysis, offering an easily approachable and plausible framework that can inform both research and practice. Excellent for undergraduate and graduate students alike, as well as others interested in the field of behavior science, this book covers standard topics in behavior analysis from an up-to-date perspective. Readers will be introduced to a far more effective way of viewing behavior than the traditional reinforcement-based approach.
- Examine traditional concepts of behavior analysis from an evolutionary perspective
- Gain a concrete conceptual framework that can be used to guide research and practice in applied behavioral science
- Understand human and nonhuman behaviors, both in laboratory settings and in daily life, from an individual and a social perspective
- Build your knowledge of why people make the choices they make given particular environmental inputs
Introduction to Behavior fills an important gap in available texts on behavior analysis, placing helpful behavioral concepts within a sound, evidence-based evolutionary framework.
Table of Contents
Preface ix
1 Organism 1
2 Behavior 9
3 Behavior and Natural Selection 21
4 Covariance 31
5 Measurement 43
6 Stability and Change 55
7 Stimulus 73
8 Choice and Balance 85
9 Verbal Behavior and Rules 103
10 Social Behavior and Culture 121
11 Coda for Instructors 135
Index 141
