Conceptual Foundations: Teaching the Historical Development of Radical Behaviorism as a Philosophy of Science
A plug-and-play graduate syllabus puts Skinner’s philosophy back into BCBA training.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Moore (2022) wrote a full 15-week graduate course on radical behaviorism.
The class traces the history of Skinner’s ideas and eight core themes.
No students were tested; the paper is a ready-to-teach syllabus.
What they found
The course is laid out week-by-week with readings, discussion questions, and assignments.
Moore argues every BCBA program should teach these philosophical roots.
No data on student learning are given.
How this fits with other research
Ruiz (1998) warned that most college behavior-analysis courses lack outcome data.
Moore (2022) answers that call by giving a detailed syllabus, yet still skips measurement—so the gap R flagged remains.
Dubuque et al. (2018) show how to build university supervision systems; Moore adds the missing piece: what to teach before trainees start practice.
Blackman et al. (2022) prove trainees need direct feedback to master skills; Moore’s course can front-load the conceptual language those feedback sessions will later reference.
Why it matters
You can lift Moore’s weekly plan and drop it into your program tomorrow.
Teach the eight dimensions first, then run skills labs; your supervisees will talk like behaviorists from day one.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
This article outlines a graduate-level course on the philosophical, conceptual, and historical (PCH) foundations of radical behaviorism, which is the philosophy of science that underlies behavior analysis. As described, the course is for a 15-week semester, and is organized into weekly units. The units in the first half of the course are concerned with the influences of other viewpoints in the history of psychology on the development of behavior analysis and radical behaviorism. The units in the second half are concerned with the PCH foundations of eight basic dimensions of radical behaviorism. Throughout, a course examining the foundations of radical behaviorism is seen as compatible with related courses in the other three domains of behavior analysis—the experimental analysis of behavior, applied behavior analysis, and service delivery—and as integral to the education of all behavior analysts.
Perspectives on Behavior Science, 2022 · doi:10.1007/s40614-022-00335-0