Basic research needed for stimulating the development of behavioral technologies.
Follow the three-link chain—animal, human lab, real world—to turn any basic discovery into a usable intervention.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Mace (1994) mapped a three-step chain to turn lab discoveries into real-world tools. First, test the idea with animals. Next, repeat it with humans in a lab. Last, try it in the place where clients live, work, or play.
The paper is a call to action, not a data report. It says behavior analysts must link basic and applied work or new tech will stay stuck in journals.
What they found
The article finds that our field invents too slowly. Without a clear road map, basic findings sit unused and practitioners keep reinventing wheels.
How this fits with other research
Matson et al. (2011) show the first link works. Their scoping review lists six animal studies that already guide practice, from pigeon say-do tasks to horse trailer safety.
Wolchik et al. (1982) beat C to the punch. That paper defends human operant labs as the vital second link, giving early legs to the chain.
Twyman (2025) extends the chain into schools. Where C stops at "test in the natural setting," Twyman adds loops: pilot, adapt, scale. The 2025 model keeps the three steps but makes them iterative so whole districts can adopt ABA.
Lattal et al. (2022) stretch the same idea to animal training. They insist pet and zoo trainers must also run lab-style checks, not just use popular gimmicks.
Why it matters
Use the paper like a checklist. When you read a basic finding, ask: "Where is the animal test? The human lab test? The classroom or clinic test?" If any link is missing, design it. Your next session can be step two or three for someone else's idea. The chain only moves when practitioners push it.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The costs of disconnection between the basic and applied sectors of behavior analysis are reviewed, and some solutions to these problems are proposed. Central to these solutions are collaborations between basic and applied behavioral scientists in programmatic research that addresses the behavioral basis and solution of human behavior problems. This kind of collaboration parallels the deliberate interactions between basic and applied researchers that have proven to be so profitable in other scientific fields, such as medicine. Basic research questions of particular relevance to the development of behavioral technologies are posed in the following areas: response allocation, resistance to change, countercontrol, formation and differentiation/discrimination of stimulus and response classes, analysis of low-rate behavior, and rule-governed behavior. Three interrelated strategies to build connections between the basic and applied analysis of behavior are identified: (a) the development of nonhuman animal models of human behavior problems using operations that parallel plausible human circumstances, (b) replication of the modeled relations with human subjects in the operant laboratory, and (c) tests of the generality of the model with actual human problems in natural settings.
Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior, 1994 · doi:10.1901/jeab.1994.61-529