Social Validity and Contemporary Applied Behavior Analysis

Vollmer and colleagues wrote a position paper. They did not run an experiment.

They looked at how ABA is viewed by the public and by its own workers.

The authors urge teams to bake social-validity checks into every step of their work, not just at the end.

The paper says ABA is often seen as one big block. People forget it is a science, not a single kit.

When teams skip ongoing social checks, they risk choosing goals that matter to staff but not to clients.

Kennedy (1992) showed only 20 % of studies even mentioned social validity. Vollmer et al. answer that gap by telling teams to audit themselves early and often.

Leif et al. (2024) found the number is still low: only 18 % of recent JABA papers report social data. The new paper pushes the same point—measure more, and do it throughout.

Huntington et al. (2024) found most checks leave out disabled consumers. Vollmer’s call lines up: include the real users every time, not just parents or staff.

AGreen et al. (2020) gave a parent-interview tool for crisis use. Vollmer widens the lens: use any tool, but use it all the time, not only in emergencies.

You can start this week. Pick one active case. Ask the client (or guardian) two questions: “Is this goal still worth it to you?” and “Is the way we work okay?” Write the answers and adjust. Repeat each month. This tiny loop keeps your program client-driven and shows funders you care about real outcomes, not just graphs.