#

Behavioral Analysis

The main topic being studied in McIlvane's research paper, "Translational behavioral analysis: from laboratory science in stimulus control to interventions with persons with neurodevelopmental disabilities" is translational behavioral analysis. It is largely defined as a hybrid of the two conventional methods of behavioral analysis: basic and applied behavioral analysis. Its distinction between these two forms largely involves its hybridization of them, and its identification as "a subfield of behavior analysis" (McIlvane, 2009, p. 273).

There are no research questions in this paper for the simple fact that it does not contain original research and is merely the author's reflection and analysis of this particular subject. The rationale for the paper is that translational behavioral analysis is a relative newcomer to the modes of science that were previously stratified as either basic or applied behavioral analysis. As such, it is worthy of study because it can bridge the gap between these two science and yield greater impact on the study of science and how it relates to improving humans (specifically in relation to diseases.

One of the author's main points is that although there is little question regarding the distinction between basic behavioral analysis and translational behavioral analysis, that there is greater need to reinforce the distinction between translational and applied behavioral analysis. Thus, the author offers many points of distinction between these two, which include populations studied and research environments among others (McIlvane, 2009, p. 274). The Shriver Center and its work on autism function as a case study for the validity of translational behavioral analysis within this paper. The author offers the fact that there is a greater concern for the individual in translational behavioral analysis than with applied behavioral analysis. The author also implies that translational behavioral analysis is validated by the fact that it incorporates animal behavioral modeling, whereas typical behavioral analysis does not.

Again, it is difficult to identify any sort of main results due to the fact that there was not original research in the paper. However, the author references a major study between the Shriver Center and a Brazilian counterpart in which there was a "fixed trial identity matching procedure" (McIlvane, 2009, p. 277). He does so to demonstrate that the lengthy procedure of this study could have been shortened, and the research more informed, by adopting a translational approach to it and future research in this area.

The main conclusion of this article is that translational behavioral analysis is a bridge between basic and applied behavioral analysis. It is a viable third option that incorporates some of the most salient aspects of both. Nonetheless, it is considered distinct from them and can assist to aid in the processes of the other two approaches, particularly applied behavioral analysis.

The main topic being studied in the paper by Baer et al., "Some dimensions of applied behavior analysis" is applied behavior analysis and the different characteristics that are germane to it. This behavioral analysis is specifically considered in the context of analytic behavioral application. The confluence of these concepts is identified as applying what is known to relevant areas within a society, and examining what aspects of that application produced any particular changes (Baer et al., 1968, p. 91).

The background and rationale for this paper is similar to that of the preceding paper. Essentially, it considers the two traditional modes of behavioral analysis -- basic and applied. However, it also denotes the shortcomings of each -- that the one is based on clinical studies while the other largely occurs within different, life like environments that are not conducive towards typical qualitative research. Although there are no explicit research questions because this paper does not include original research, analytic behavioral application is propagated as a means of synthesizing the best elements of each of these two approaches to lessen their respective shortcomings.

The overall purpose of this paper is to explicate the various ways in which applied behavior analysis functions and helps to inform studies of the sort. To that end, the author has identified a number of key characteristics of this type of research. He then spends a fair amount of time delving into exactly what those characteristics entail for a research study of this nature. Those characteristics are highlighted in the subsequent quotation: "…the study must be applied, behavioral and analytic, in addition, it should be technological, conceptually systematic, and effective, and it should display some generality" (Baer et al., 1968, p. 92). For each of these various dimensions of an applied research analysis, the author provides details about how they impact such a research study.