Behavior therapy and the experimental analysis of behavior: contributions of the science of human behavior and radical behavioral philosophy.

Abstract:  It has been argued that clinical psychologists, including clinical behavior therapists, are not aware of or knowledgeable about advances being made in basic behavioral research (Marks, Behavioral Psychotherapy, 9, 137-154, 1981). The present paper addresses the arguments advanced by clinical and experimental psychologists that behavior therapy and cognitive-behavior therapy are moving away from their respective ties to the experimental operant laboratory. It is argued that there are many areas of mutual interest between basic behavioral and clinical research and application. Several major research programs of operant psychology are analyzed in order to demonstrate conclusively that advances in basic behavioral studies have relevance for application by clinical psychologists. Progress in the experimental fields of the quantitative law of effect (the matching law), operant/classical interactions, including behavioral momentum, modeling and verbal and rule-governed behavior are analyzed. Applications of these basic behavioral principles to clinical settings are also illustrated. It is concluded that the experimental analysis of behavior can add much to the continuing development of a scientifically-based clinical psychology, and that mutual interest research in both sub-disciplines of psychology will lead to a greater understanding of the causes and conditions of human behavior, as well as direct the ability of clinical psychologists to effect meaningful behavioral change.