Some reflections on 25 years of the association for behavior analysis: Past, present, and future.
Behavior analysis survives only if each of us recruits the next wave of students and speaks in plain sight.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Simpson et al. (2001) hosted a panel talk. They looked back on 25 years of the Association for Behavior Analysis.
The goal was to see where the field had been and where it needed to go next.
What they found
The panel agreed on one big point. Behavior analysis must train more students and speak to the public.
Without fresh faces and clear outreach, the field could shrink.
How this fits with other research
Sidman (2002) picked up the story one year later. He reminded readers that early growth came from friendly chats across fields, not just tight lab rules.
Tager-Flusberg (1981) had already cheered JABA’s mission 20 years earlier. That editorial shows the worry about staying alive is not new.
Later papers turned the 2001 warning into action plans. Critchfield (2015) said graduate programs should track how well their alumni do in real jobs. Napolitano et al. (2025) pushed BCBAs to join policy committees the way doctors do.
Each paper keeps the same beat: grow or fade. The difference is the tool kit gets sharper each decade.
Why it matters
You can’t wait for the next conference to save the field. Ask your supervisee to film a 60-second TikTok that shows what reinforcement looks like at a grocery store. Post it tomorrow. One short clip teaches the public and pulls in future students.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
This paper offers some reflections on the discipline and profession of behavior analysis, as well as on the Association for Behavior Analysis (ABA), on the occasion of the association's 25th anniversary. It is based on a panel session conducted at the 1999 convention that included six past presidents of ABA (Donald M. Baer, Judith E. Favell, Sigrid S. Glenn, Philip N. Hineline, Jack Michael, and Edward K. Morris) and its current Executive Director and Secretary-Treasurer (Maria E. Malott). Among the topics addressed were (a) the survival of behavior analysis in university and cultural contexts, (b) the training of behavior-analytic researchers and practitioners, (c) relations between basic and applied research, (d) convergences between behavior analysis and other disciplines, (e) the structure and function of ABA, and (f) the importance of students for the future of the association, the discipline, and the profession. Questions from the audience raised issues concerning the relevance of major behavior-analytic journals, advances in behavior analysis since the death of B. F. Skinner, and the availability of accessible, popular material on applied behavior analysis.
The Behavior analyst, 2001 · doi:10.1007/BF03392025