Behavior analysis and the growth of behavioral pharmacology

Abstract

Psychologists, particularly those influenced by the work of B. F. Skinner, played a major part in the development of behavioral pharmacology in the 1950s and 1960s. Revolutionary changes in pharmacology and psychiatry, including the discovery of powerful therapeutic agents such as chlorpromazine and reserpine, had produced a surge of interest in drug research. Pharmaceutical companies began hiring psychologists with operant conditioning backgrounds so as to compete successfully in the search for new drugs. Psychologists, most of whom were skilled in the behavior-analytic approach, started to assume prominent positions as authors and editors for the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics as its emphasis on behavior increased. This also proved true with the other publications founded to deal with the popularity of behavioral pharmacology. Especially important were contributions by B. F. Skinner, Peter B. Dews, and Joseph V. Brady.