A Behavior‐Analytic Theory of Child Development

Abstract

Theories in the natural sciences are inductively derived from the discovery of orderly functional relations in the experimental laboratory and consist of a set of statements or equations that summarize those relations. Theories can then be used to deduce (i.e., explain) novel or untested phenomena. Theory in behavior analysis—the science of adaptive behavior—is described as an example of theory in the natural sciences. Like theories in the natural sciences, behavior‐analytic theory is induced from the orderly functional relations discovered in the experimental laboratory. From these facts, behavior analysts have deduced a functional unit of behavior analysis consisting of four components, the so‐called four‐term contingency. Behavior analysts then employ this functional‐analytic unit to explain observations, including those of child behavioral development. Behavior‐analytic theory, like most scientific theories, is consistent with Isaac Newton's four “rules of reasoning in philosophy,” which include inductive science, parsimony, and theoretical extension. Even though a behavior‐analytic theory is not explicitly a developmental theory, it does satisfy several criteria of successful theories of child behavioral development: It is testable, is internally consistent, possesses predictive validity and external validity, and is theoretically economical (i.e., parsimonious).