Science and Human Behavior: a tutorial in behavior analysis.

Michael (2003) wrote a short tutorial. He walked readers through Skinner’s 1953 book Science and Human Behavior. He picked out the key maxims most people forget.

The paper is not an experiment. It is a guided tour of old ideas that still work.

The book is still the fastest way to interpret any behavior. A handful of core principles cover almost every case.

Jack lists the maxims you can say to yourself in the moment: “What is the reinforcer?” “What is the EO?” “Is this operant or respondent?”

Wixted (2008) takes the same stance and pushes it further. He says JEAB should only publish papers framed in Skinnerian terms. The 2003 tutorial teaches the stance; the 2008 paper tries to make it editorial policy.

Abbott (2013) repeats the spirit but targets 1945 instead of 1953. Both papers say: stop arguing about definitions, study the contingencies that control how we talk.

Gilmore et al. (2022) and Becker et al. (2022) extend the ideas to new arenas. Rose uses mand-tact-intraverbal analysis to fight racist statements in court systems. Becker uses the same tools to rethink aphasia rehab. The old book gives the map; these papers drive it into fresh territory.

Scibak (2025) is the newest offshoot. It treats voting as operant behavior and asks BCBAs to shape public policy. Again, the 1953 book supplies the lens; Scibak points it at the ballot box.

You already own the book. Keep it open during supervision. When a case feels messy, flip to the maxims Jack lists. One short sentence from Skinner can cut through ten pages of mentalistic talk.