The State of Teaching Philosophy in Behavior Analysis Training Programs

Abstract

Professional organizations that oversee the accreditation of graduate training programs in behavior analysis have increased didactic training requirements for programs in various domains across the years. One of the areas in which this has occurred concerns training in philosophy within behavior science. Although content-hour requirements for didactic philosophical training have increased, the contents of this training are not prescribed and are left to the discretion of individual programs. We conducted a survey of verified course sequence programs to assess the current state of training in philosophy in behavior analysis graduate training programs. The results provided a list of common topics and readings in philosophy courses, and indicated an emphasis on radical behaviorism and the works of B. F. Skinner. The list of topics and readings obtained provides a resource for course design, and we suggest that exposing students to a broader range of behavioristic and nonbehavioristic topics and readings may enhance students’ orientation to philosophical issues in behavior analysis.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40617-023-00889-8.

Professional organizations involved in the accreditation of behavior analysis training programs and the certification of individual behavior analysis practitioners (e.g., Association for Behavior Analysis International [ABAI]; Behavior Analyst Certification Board [BACB]) have recognized the importance of training in philosophy and have gradually increased content-hour requirements for training programs in this domain across time. In March 2022, the BACB announced that, starting 2027, all coursework content areas must be delivered in freestanding courses (BACB, 2022b). This is a notable change from the current coursework requirements, which stipulate that some, but not necessarily all, content areas be delivered in freestanding courses (BACB, 2022a). In addition, as of 2032, the only available eligibility pathways to apply to take the BCBA exam will be for applicants to get their graduate degree (masters or doctorate) from an ABAI-accredited (i.e., Tier 1) or Association for Professional Behavior Analysts (APBA) accredited graduate training program (BACB, 2022b, 2023). Relevant to philosophy content, ABAI accreditation requires 45 contact hr for the content area “principles of behavior” and an additional 45 contact hr for “conceptual analysis” for master’s level graduate programs (and 90 hr for “conceptual analysis” for doctorate programs; ABAI, n.d.-a); APBA accreditation requires 45 hr in “basic principles of behavior” and 45 hr in “theory and philosophy in behavior analysis” (APBA, n.d.) Under the system outlined by these upcoming changes, graduate training programs must include at least one full 45-hr course dedicated to philosophy in behavior analysis (rather than distributing philosophy content across multiple courses or including fewer than 45 hr of philosophy content; BACB, 2022b).

Changing standards for behavior analysis coursework make it clear that philosophical issues are increasingly deemed to be of importance to the training of behavior analysts (see also Miltenberger, 2018; Pilgrim, 2018). It is worth briefly considering why. The term philosophy as used here refers to the set of assumptions individuals hold about the world: the nature of things/events and their existence, how they are related, and how they should be studied, described, and evaluated (Hayes & Fryling, 2023; Hayes et al., 1988). These guide action in nearly all domains of life, including professional activities such as research and practice in behavior analysis (Hayes & Tarbox, 2007; Fryling, 2013; Kimball, 2002). In research, assumptions guide decisions regarding the research topics/questions pursued, the methods by which they are investigated, how data are analyzed, and the interpretation of results (Kantor, 1953; Skinner, 1953, 1974). In practice, assumptions guide decisions regarding methods for assessment and the measurement of behavior, interpretation of the results of these activities, and the selection of treatment goals and methods (Fryling, 2013; Miltenberger, 2018). They also serve as the basis for personal and professional values and judgments related to ethics and morality (Hayes & Tarbox, 2007). It is important to note that philosophical assumptions influence the actions of researchers and practitioners even if they are not articulated or examined critically. In the absence of orientation to philosophical issues and self-reflection, behavior analysts may in some circumstances default to actions influenced by assumptions arising from their personal histories, some of which may be fundamentally incompatible with behavioristic approaches to certain problems1 (Kantor, 1953). This is especially likely to occur in situations in which the contextual variables related to phenomena of interest are more difficult to observe or identify (e.g., unexpected/intractable scientific or clinical problems; Fryling, 2013; Parrott, 1986). For these reasons, philosophy may be considered to be the foundation of everything behavior analysts do.

Despite the importance of philosophy to research and practice in behavior analysis, relatively little is known about the current state of training in this domain. The training guidelines described above stipulate requirements, but they allow significant leeway in terms of the topics/readings. For programs that are working to revise their courses or develop new courses to meet these requirements, there are few resources available to offer guidance. Pastrana et al. (2018) conducted a review of syllabi from 20 behavior analysis graduate training programs and compiled lists of the 10 most commonly assigned readings within each content area required by the BACB for coursework eligibility. Within the domain of behaviorism, they reported that 5 of the 10 most assigned readings were authored by B. F. Skinner. Other commonly assigned readings were Baer et al. (1968, 1987), Baum (2005), Normand (2008), and Cooper et al. (2007). Hollins et al. (2023) provided recommendations for including diversity, equity, and inclusion content into behavior analysis coursework. In their article, the authors provided a list of potential readings that could be embedded into different content areas; their list included five articles within the “philosophical underpinnings; concepts and principles” content area: Skinner (1953), Skinner (1981), Glenn (1988), Hayes and Toarmino (1995), and Slocum et al. (2014). Although the lists of readings offered by these two articles are useful resources to instructors developing or revising philosophy courses, they do not explore the actual content that these readings are intended, or able, to support. Assigning readings is only one part of course development, and it would be useful to know more about what topics are included in philosophy courses, in addition to exploring expanded readings lists.

The purpose of the present study was to extend knowledge of the current state of training in philosophy in behavior analysis training programs by gathering information on topics and instructional content in addition to assigned readings. A further purpose was to provide a potential resource to programs as they revise their courses to meet the upcoming coursework requirement changes. At the time of writing, there are approximately 284 VCS programs and 31 ABAI-accredited (Tier 1) programs, most of which are also VCS programs. A survey was sent to all VCS program coordinators to determine (1) the importance they ascribe to philosophical issues and the reasons for this; (2) the topics addressed in these courses; and (3) the readings commonly assigned to students in philosophy-oriented courses.

Method

Survey Distribution

A survey was created using Qualtrics (www.qualtrics.com) and was distributed via email to a listserv of ABAI VCS coordinators. A total of six emails containing background information about the study and a link to the survey were distributed through ABAI’s VCS Listserv between the dates of August 13, 2021 and December 20, 2021. At the time, the listserv contained approximately 400 email addresses.

In addition to the listserv, names of VCS coordinators were collected via the ABAI website and their corresponding email addresses (if available) were collected via faculty webpages. A total of 284 programs were identified through this method, 238 of which were located within the United States and 46 of which were located outside of the United States. A single, individualized email containing the same background information and link to the survey was then sent to each of a total of 266 faculty members from 258 programs between the dates of March 27, 2022 and May 7, 2022.

Although recruitment emails were only sent to VCS coordinators at the identified programs, recipients were told that in cases in which the coordinator did not have the necessary materials available to complete the survey, they could instead forward the survey to a faculty member assigned with teaching the relevant class. They were also told that in the case of a single university having multiple VCS programs, a separate survey for each could be completed.

Participant Demographics and Program Characteristics

To participate in this survey, participants needed to report that they were either the coordinator for a BCBA VCS program or were an instructor in a BCBA VCS program. Coordinators and instructors for BCaBA VCS programs were not included in this survey. Seventy-six people started the survey; 61 participants accessed the survey from the listserv distribution and 15 accessed it from the direct email distribution. All data were combined for the remaining analyses. Thirty-five participants completed less than 77% of the survey; these data were excluded from analysis because these participants responded only to the demographic questions and did not answer questions regarding teaching philosophy. Forty-one VCS coordinators/instructors completed 77% or more of the survey, and answered at least some questions regarding teaching philosophy, and their data were included for analysis. This sample size represents 14% of the target population (i.e., 14% of VCS programs completed 77% or more of the survey to be included for data analysis).2

The characteristics of VCS coordinators’/instructors’ programs and their roles are presented in Table 1. Thirteen VCS coordinators/instructors (31.7%) reported that their VCS program was accredited through ABAI; 28 (68.3%) reported that their program was not ABAI accredited. Given that, at the time of this survey, there were 31 accredited programs and 284 VCS programs, the relative proportion of accredited programs to VCS programs within our sample is higher than that of the target population (31.7% vs. 11%, respectively). Nearly half of the VCS coordinators/instructors reported that their program offered only on-campus training (n = 20, 48.8 %), and approximately equal numbers of programs were online only (n = 11, 26.8) or hybrid (n = 10, 24.4%). Of the 284 VCS programs that we solicited, approximately 31% were on-campus only, 30% online only, and 39% hybrid. Thus, the proportions of on-campus only programs within our sample is higher than that of the target population, and the proportion of online only and hybrid programs within our sample are lower than that of the target population.

Table 1.

Respondent Demographics and Program Characteristics

Question	%	n
Are you the Verified Course Sequence (VCS) coordinator for your program?
Yes	82.9	34
No	17.1	7
Is the program in which your VCS is embedded accredited by the Association for Behavior Analysis International?
Yes	31.7	13
No	68.3	28
What is the typical mode of delivery for courses in your program (i.e., mode of delivery pre-pandemic)?
On-Campus Only	48.8	20
Online Only	26.8	11
Hybrid	24.4	10
In which department of your institution is your program housed (e.g., Psychology, Special Education)?
Psychology	39.0	16
Special Education	19.5	8
Education	9.8	4
Applied Psychology	4.9	2
Graduate School of Education and Psychology	2.4	1
Applied Behavior Analysis	2.4	1
Applied Behavioral Science	2.4	1
Natural Sciences	2.4	1
Educational Psychology	2.4	1
Special Education and Educational Psychology	2.4	1
Health Professions	2.4	1
Behavior Analysis	2.4	1
Department of Psychology and Child Development	2.4	1
Psychology and Counseling	2.4	1
Psychological Science	2.4	1
Which degrees are offered in your VCS program?
Master’s Only	78.0	32
Doctoral Only	0	0
Master’s & Doctoral	22.0	9
On average, approximately how many students graduate from your program each year (both master's and doctoral graduates)?
0–5	9.8	4
6–10	31.7	13
11–15	24.4	10
16–20	4.9	2
More than 20	29.3	12
What type of graduate does your program primarily produce?
More researchers than practitioners	0	0
More practitioners than researchers	92.7	38
Approximately equal mix of researchers and practitioners	7.3	3

Survey Structure and Contents

A 16-item survey was developed by the authors (see Supplementary Information [SI] 1, available online). The questions were created through a three-step process: first, the authors drafted questions based on our training and experience with behavioristic theory and philosophy; second, we distributed a pilot version of the survey to five behavior analysts who have experience as faculty in behavior analysis graduate training programs to solicit feedback on the survey; third, we revised the survey given this feedback. The first seven questions were developed to assess the features of training programs (e.g., mode of delivery, department in which program is housed, degrees offered by the program; see Table 1). The next nine questions were designed to assess the perceived importance and contents of the didactic training provided in philosophy in behavior analysis training programs (see Tables 2, 3, and 4). The survey also included an option for VCS coordinators/instructors to upload a copy of their course syllabus.

Table 2.

Responses to the Question: Why Do You Think It is Important to Provide Instruction in Philosophical Concepts and Issues in Your VCS Courses? Please Select All that Apply

Number of Respondents (N = 36)	%	Reason
33	91.7	It informs clinical practice.
29	80.6	It helps in the training of scientist practitioners
27	75.0	It has value in its own right
26	72.2	It helps in devising/conducting/evaluating behavioral research
21	58.3	It is required by VCS guidelines.
20	55.6	It helps students prepare for further education
19	52.8	It helps in devising/conducting/evaluating interdisciplinary research
16	44.4	It helps in devising/conducting/evaluating translational research
12	33.3	It helps in devising/conducting/evaluating nonbehavioral research
9	25.0	Other: comments present below, organized by theme
Theme		Comment
Theme 1: Emphasis on Comprehensive Training and Understanding		“Students should be trained in the philosophy of the science of behavior analysis, not just to be practitioners serving kids with ASD.”
		“It is foundational to each of the domains of ABA. Without a firm understanding of the philosophical concepts, practical applications may be faulty, unfounded, or even harmful.”
Theme 2: Foundational Knowledge for Behavior Analysts		“It serves as the basis upon which students make decisions about how to analyze behavior. Move away from intervening variables and focus on external locus of control.”
		“I simply do not see how one can call themself (sic.) a behaviorist without understanding the philosophical and theoretical concepts and issues underlying the science of behavior.”
		“It helps with the understanding of Why . . . many never read primary sources . . . just repeat what's in the cooper book.”
Theme 3: Critical Thinking and Communication		“It helps students learn to talk about and constructively critique other theories that are dominant in psychology and education. It also helps students respond to misconceptions about behavior analysis (such as the idea that behavior analysis rejects private events).”
		“It helps graduates get a better grasp of the underpinnings of the science of behavior analysis, examine their previous epistemologies, and compare to the behavioral philosophy and improve their conversation skills with other professionals when they need to explain and reason behavioral issues.”
		“It helps students develop their personal philosophy and its relation to the guiding assumptions in behavior analysis.”
		“It informs ethical practice and decision-making.”

The responses under “other” are directly quoted from the coordinators/instructors

Table 3.

Philosophical Approaches Included in Courses

Question	%	n	Mean % Instruction Time (SD)
Which behavioristic philosophical approaches are explicitly taught in your philosophy-oriented curriculum? Please select all that apply.
Radical behaviorism	100	37	72.4 (24.1)
Methodological behaviorism	70.3	26	14.0 (9.8)
Early non-Skinnerian behaviorism (e.g., Watson, Hull, Tolman, Guthrie)	54.1	20	10.8 (6.5)
Functional contextualism	32.4	12	12.5 (7.4)
Theoretical behaviorism	18.9	7	23.3 (18.3)
Interbehaviorism	16.2	6	10.6 (7.3)
Teleological behaviorism	10.8	4	8.3 (3.9)
Other	10.8	4	49.3 (46.7)
Outside of behaviorism, are any philosophical approaches to psychology/behavior science explicitly taught or addressed in your philosophy-oriented curriculum? Please select all that apply.
Mentalism	84.8	28	-
Structuralism	60.6	20	-
Cognitivism	60.6	20	-
Developmentalism	45.5	15	-
Psychoanalysis	24.2	8	-
Humanistic psychology	21.2	7	-
Other	18.1	6	-
Positive psychology	6.1	2	-

All percentage for behavioral topics was out of 37, and all percentages for nonbehavioral topics was out of 33

Table 4.

Psychological Phenomena and Philosophy of Science Topics Included in Courses

Question	%	n
Which of the following psychological phenomena are addressed/interpreted in your philosophy-oriented curriculum? Please select all that apply:
Private events	97.4	37
Language/verbal behavior	94.7	36
Rule-governed behavior	86.8	33
Thinking	84.2	32
Stimulus equivalence/equivalence relations	73.7	28
Freedom/free will	73.7	28
Scientific behavior/behavior of scientists	68.4	26
Derived relational responding	65.8	25
Ethics/morality	63.2	24
Self/self-management	60.5	23
Social issues (e.g., climate change, diversity, public health)	55.3	21
Consciousness/ unconsciousness	52.6	20
Purpose/intention	50.0	19
Perception and sensation	47.4	18
Knowledge	47.4	18
Nonequivalence relations	44.7	17
Other	7.9	3
Which of the following philosophy of science topics are addressed in your philosophy-oriented curriculum?
Empiricism	97.4	37
Definition/nature of science	97.4	37
Pragmatism	89.5	34
Levels of analysis	89.5	34
Subject matter issues/relations between science	78.9	30
Explanation and causality	76.3	29
Dualism/monism	71.1	27
Reductionism	65.8	25
Ontology	65.8	25
Epistemology	50.0	19
Logic/reasoning	50.0	19
Realism	36.8	14
Other	2.6	1

All percentages were out of an N = 38. Three participants noted that they taught “other” psychological phenomena, including evolution, cultural selection, selection by consequences, and causality applied to cultural evolution and social change. One participant noted that they touch on other approaches as “nonexamples.” One participant noted that they include “other” philosophy of science topics in their course, including determinism

Results and Discussion

Importance of Philosophy

Using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from “very important” to “very unimportant,” we asked the coordinators/instructors to rate the overall importance of teaching philosophy within their programs. Of the 39 coordinators/instructors who answered this question, 35 (89.7%) rated the teaching of philosophical topics as “very important,” 1 (2.6%) rated it as “somewhat important,” and 3 (7.7%) rated it as “very unimportant.” We also asked the coordinators/instructors to select why they thought it was important to include training in philosophy in graduate training programs; the results for the coordinators/instructors who selected “very important” or “somewhat important” are shown in Table 2 (n = 36). The largest proportion of coordinators/instructors indicated that philosophy “informs clinical practice” (n = 33, 91.7%).

Nine coordinators/instructors selected “other” and left comments regarding why the inclusion of philosophical topics is important. We conducted a post-hoc qualitative analysis of these responses to identify themes among the comments. To do so, we submitted the comments to ChatGPT (https://chat.openai.com/) and asked the program to suggest themes (the exact query submitted to ChatGPT and its exact response are included in SI 2 online). We then took the themes suggested by the program, revised them, and sorted the participants’ comments into three mutually exclusive theme categories. The themes and corresponding comments are displayed in Table 2. The first theme that we noted was that respondents placed an emphasis on comprehensive training and understanding when discussing the importance of teaching philosophy in graduate behavior analysis training. For example, one coordinator/instructor noted, “it is foundational to each of the domains of ABA. Without a firm understanding of the philosophical concepts, practical applications may be faulty, unfounded, or even harmful.” The second theme that we identified among the coordinators/instructors’ comments was that teaching philosophy is important in shaping the foundational knowledge of behavior analysts. For example, a coordinator/instructor wrote, “it serves as the basis upon which students make decisions about how to analyze behavior. Move away from intervening variables and focus on external locus of control.” The third and final theme was that coordinators/instructors stressed the importance of training in philosophy to critical thinking and communication. For example, one coordinator/instructor commented, “it helps graduates get a better grasp of the underpinnings of the science of behavior analysis, examine their previous epistemologies, and compare to the behavioral philosophy and improve their conversation skills with other professionals when they need to explain and reason behavioral issues.”

It is interesting to note that, although the most endorsed reason for the importance of philosophy was that it “informs clinical practice,” the comments provided seem to highlight the value of instruction in philosophy beyond clinical application. The comments provided by these nine coordinators/instructors suggest that instruction in behavioristic philosophy within behavior analysis graduate training programs is important at a foundational level, is necessary for a comprehensive understanding of behavior analysis, and that robust philosophical understanding aids in critical thinking and communication. Thus, our data suggest that instruction in philosophy is valuable in its own right, and because it is foundational to effective clinical application.

Topics Included in Courses

Behavioristic and Nonbehavioristic Philosophies

Table 3 shows the number and percentage of coordinators/instructors that indicated including certain behavioristic (n = 37) and nonbehavioristic (n = 33) philosophies in their coursework, as well as the coordinators/instructors’ estimate of the proportion of class time that was dedicated to each behavioristic philosophy. The arithmetic mean percentage of instruction dedicated to each philosophy was calculated by dividing the sum of instruction time by the number of coordinators/instructors who reported addressing that philosophy in their course. All 37 coordinators/instructors (100%) reported including radical behaviorism as a topic, and 36 coordinators/instructors reported spending an average of 72.4% of class time on radical behaviorism. Although 70.3% (n = 26) coordinators/instructors reported including methodological behaviorism in their course, they reported dedicating only about 14% of instruction time to methodological behaviorism. Relative to nonbehavioristic philosophies, 28 coordinators/instructors (84.8%) reported including mentalism in their coursework, and 20 (60.6%) reported including structuralism and cognitivism.

These data, combined with some of the comments left by coordinators/instructors, suggest that instructors are placing a heavy emphasis on radical behaviorism relative to other behavioristic philosophies, as shown by the difference in the amount of time dedicated to radical behaviorism compared to the others. One coordinator/instructor noted that although they include “some Rachlin . . .” they “focus on Skinner and Radical Behaviorism.” In addition, these data suggest that, although a variety of topics might be included in courses, they are likely used for the purpose of comparing and contrasting, and that coverage of a philosophy does not necessarily imply endorsement of it. One coordinator/instructor noted, “This varies. I would say that the majority is radical behaviorism, but the others complement that, and/or are contrasted with it. So, it's difficult to put easy numbers in the boxes here.” Another coordinator/instructor noted, “This is kind of a weird question . . . the students learn about the historical contributions of things like methodological behaviorism but are not taught that those are the current way of thinking.” Yet another noted that they, “touch on other philosophical approaches as ‘non-examples.’”

When looking at the variety of philosophies included within each program, we saw that most programs included two to four different philosophies as topics in their courses. That is, although all programs included radical behaviorism as a topic in their course, they generally only included 1–3 additional philosophies (seemingly to contrast with radical behaviorism). This trend raises an interesting point from an instructional design perspective. One might argue that a major function of graduate coursework is concept formation, and this relies on experience with multiple exemplars and nonexemplars (e.g., Johnson & Bulla, 2021; Layng, 2019). From a concept formation standpoint,3 it might benefit the learner (i.e., graduate students of behavior analysis) if they are exposed to a wider range of behavioristic and nonbehavioristic philosophies, from the perspectives of multiple authors, to help them clarify and articulate the philosophical assumptions that will have an important influence on their decision making as behavior analysts. If students are primarily instructed on “what is” (i.e., on radical behaviorism), and have limited instruction on “what is not” or “what is different” (i.e., other philosophical approaches to explaining behavior), then they will likely have difficulty identifying and articulating “what is not” when encountered. That is, students may have only one term to rely on and will state they are acting as radical behaviorists although their behavior indicates otherwise. Instructors in graduate programs might consider expanding the behavioristic and nonbehavioristic topics included in their coursework to increase the breadth of content that students are learning, in an effort to support students’ abilities to identify and articulate different approaches to explaining behavior.

Psychological Phenomena and Philosophy of Science

Table 4 shows the number and percentage of coordinators/instructors who reported including the listed psychology-specific and philosophy of science topics in their coursework. Among the 38 individuals who responded to these questions, the most commonly addressed psychology-specific topics were private events (n = 37, 97.4%) and language/verbal behavior (n = 36, 94.7%). Three coordinators/instructors noted that they taught “other” psychological phenomena, including evolution, cultural selection, selection by consequences, and causality applied to cultural evolution and social change. The most commonly addressed philosophy of science topics were empiricism (n = 37, 97.4%) and definition/nature of science (n = 37, 97.4%).

It is interesting to note that the topics endorsed by the coordinators/instructors seemed to reflect the major topics discussed by B. F. Skinner in some of his landmark works, such as About Behaviorism (Skinner, 1974) and Science and Human Behavior (Skinner, 1953). For example, of the six most endorsed psychological phenomena addressed within philosophy coursework, five are major topics within the above noted books (private events, language/verbal behavior, rule-governed behavior, thinking, and freedom/free will4). It may be the case that many instructors adhere to the topics discussed by Skinner in these two formative texts to guide their course development.

Commonly Assigned Readings

The coordinators/instructors were asked to list the textbooks and other readings assigned in their courses, or to upload their syllabi. For the 31 who did so, Table 5 shows the list of assigned primary texts, along with the number and percentage of respondents that reported assigning each. Twenty-four texts were included in the list of primary texts. The four most commonly assigned were About Behaviorism (n = 12, 38.7%; Skinner, 1974), Science and Human Behavior (n = 10, 32.2%; Skinner, 1953), Applied Behavior Analysis (n = 9, 29.0%; Cooper et al., 2020), and Radical Behaviorism for ABA Practitioners (n = 9, 29.0%; Johnston, 2014). Nineteen coordinators/instructors provided information on required supplementary readings. Table 6 shows a list of required supplementary readings that were assigned by at least two VCS programs. Twenty-two readings were assigned by at least two VCS programs, and 114 readings were assigned by one program (see SI 3 online for the complete list of assigned readings).

Table 5.

Assigned Primary Texts within VCS Programs

Number of Respondents (N=31)	%	Reference
12	38.7	Skinner, B. F. (1974). About behaviorism. Random House.
10	32.2	Skinner, B. F. (1953). Science and human behavior. Macmillan.
9	29.0	Cooper, J.O., Heron, T.E., & Heward, W.L. (2020). Applied behavior analysis (3rd ed.). Pearson Education.
		Johnston, J. M. (2014). Radical behaviorism for ABA practitioners. Sloan.
4	12.9	Chiesa, M. (1994). Radical behaviorism: The philosophy and the science. Authors Cooperative.
4	12.9	Skinner, B. F. (1948). Walden two. Macmillan.
3	9.7	Skinner, B. F. (1957). Verbal behavior. Appleton-Century-Crofts.
3	9.7	Skinner, B. F. (2002). Beyond freedom and dignity. Hackett.
2	6.5	Bailey, J., & Burch, M. (2006). How to think like a behavior analyst. Routledge.
2	6.5	Pierce, W. D., & Cheney, C. D. (2017). Behavior analysis and learning: A biobehavioral approach. Routledge.
		Baum, W. M. (2005). Understanding behaviorism: Behavior, culture, and evolution. Blackwell.
		Moore, J. (2008). Conceptual foundations of radical behaviorism. Sloan.
		Skinner, B.F. (1987). Upon further reflection. Prentice-Hall.
1	3.2	Catania, A. C. (2013). Learning. Sloan.
1	3.2	Ferster, C. B., & Skinner, B. F. (1957). Schedules of reinforcement. Appleton-Century- Crofts.
		Gast, D. L., & Ledford, J. R. (2014). Single case research methodology: Applications in special education and behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Routledge Taylor & Francis.
		Pear J. J. (2007). A historical and contemporary look at psychological systems. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
		Rachlin, H. (2014). The escape of the mind. Oxford University Press.
		Rutherford, A. (2009). Beyond the box: B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior from laboratory to life, 1950s–1970s. York University Press.
		Schlinger, H., & Poling, A. (1998). Introduction to scientific psychology. Plenum Press.
		Schneider, S. M. (2012). The science of consequences: How they affect genes, change the brain, and impact our world. Prometheus Books.
		Sidman, M. (1960). Tactics of scientific research: Evaluating experimental data in psychology. Basic Books.
		Skinner, B. F. (1961). Cumulative record. Appleton-Century-Crofts.
		Torneke, N. (2010). Learning RFT: An introduction to relational frame theory and its clinical application. New Harbinger.

Table 6.

Frequently Assigned Required Supplementary Readings within VCS Programs

Number of Respondents (N = 19)	%	Reference
11	57.8	Baer, D. M., Wolf, M. M., & Risley, T. R. (1968). Some current dimensions of applied behavior analysis. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1(1), 91–97.
4	21.0	Delprato, D. J., & Midgley, B. D. (1992). Some fundamentals of B. F. Skinner's behaviorism. American Psychologist, 47(11), 1507–1520.
		Skinner, B. F. (1984). Selection by consequences. Behavioral & Brain Sciences, 7(4), 477–481.
3	15.7	Baer, D. M., Wolf, M. M., & Risley, T. R. (1987). Some still-current dimensions of applied behavior analysis. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 20(4), 313–327
		Moore, J. (2011). Behaviorism. The Psychological Record, 61(3), 449–463.
		Schlinger, H. D., Jr. (2017). The importance of analysis in applied behavior analysis. Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice, 17(4), 334–346.
		Skinner, B. F. (1953). Science and human behavior. Appleton-Century-Crofts.
		Skinner, B. F. (1966). What is the experimental analysis of behavior? Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 9(3), 213–218.
		Skinner, B. F. (1977). Why I am not a cognitive psychologist. Behaviorism, 5(2), 1–10.
		Skinner, B. F. (1984). The operational analysis of psychological terms. Behavioral & Brain Sciences, 7(4), 547–553.
		Tourinho, E. Z. (2006). Private stimuli, covert responses, and private events: Conceptual remarks. The Behavior Analyst, 29(1), 13–31.
2	10.5	Fryling, M. J. (2013). Theory, philosophy, and the practice of applied behavior analysis. European Journal of Behavior Analysis, 14(1), 45–54.
		Kimball, J. W. (2002). Behavior-analytic instruction for children with autism: Philosophy matters. Focus on Autism & Other Developmental Disabilities, 17(2), 66–75.
		Moore, J. (2013). Three views of behaviorism. The Psychological Record, 63(3), 681–691.
		Moore, J. (2003). Behavior analysis, mentalism, and the path to social justice. The Behavior Analyst, 26(2), 181–193.
		Moxley, R. A. (2004). Pragmatic selectionism: The philosophy of behavior analysis. The Behavior Analyst Today, 5(1), 108–125.
		Normand, M. P. (2008). Science, skepticism, and applied behavior analysis. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 1(2), 42–49.
		Palmer, D. C. (1991). A behavioral interpretation of memory. In L. J. Hayes & P. N. Chase (Eds.), Dialogues on verbal behavior (pp. 261–279). Context Press.
		Skinner, B. F. (1990). Can psychology be a science of mind? American Psychologist, 45(11), 1206.
		Skinner, B. F. (1956). A case history in scientific method. American Psychologist, 11(5), 221–233.
		Skinner, B. F. (1963). Behaviorism at fifty. Behavioral & Brain Sciences, 7(4), 615–621.
		Todd, J. T., & Morris, E. K. (1992). Case histories in the great power of steady misrepresentation. American Psychologist, 47(11), 1441–1453.

See additional readings in the supplemental materials

As noted in the introduction, Pastrana et al. (2018) and Hollins et al. (2023) offer lists of readings relative to instruction in behavioristic philosophy. All 10 of the readings presented by Pastrana et al. were also noted within our results, and two of the five presented by Hollins et al.—the two authored by B. F. Skinner—were reported by our respondents. Thus, our results include 148 additional texts that instructors reported including as either primary or supplemental reading for their philosophy courses.

When viewing the lists of assigned readings, the influence of B. F. Skinner on the teaching of philosophy in VCS programs is apparent. Of those listed in Tables 5 and 6, 15 readings were authored by Skinner (33% of the readings listed). This is not surprising, given the critical role that Skinner’s scholarship has played in the development and dissemination of the science of behavior analysis. Further, many (the authors of this study included) would agree that it is important, and perhaps vital, for behavior analysts to be conversant in Skinnerian radical behaviorism. However, radical behaviorism has continued to evolve through the works of other scholars (e.g., Baum, 2005; Moore, 2008; Rachlin, 2014), and cogent behavioristic alternatives to radical behaviorism have been suggested by others (e.g., Hayes et al., 2012; Kantor, 1958). Behaviorism is a rich and diverse philosophical tradition; instructors might consider the potential benefits of exposing students in behavior analysis training programs to a wider range of authors and readings (in line with the recommendation above to include multiple topics within courses).

Limitations

There were some limitations of the survey to be acknowledged. Aspects of our sample size and composition may limit the representativeness of our data relative to all graduate training in behavior analysis. At the time that this survey was distributed, there were 284 VCS programs, and we received responses from 41 of these programs (14% of the total VCS population). The data collected from this sample size may not be representative of teaching philosophy in VCS programs. Further, there are likely many graduate training programs that are not currently VCS programs; thus, the current sample may not be fully representative of all graduate training in behavior analysis. Related to this, the inclusion criteria may have allowed for some redundancy in the data. Recruitment emails were only sent to VCS coordinators, and the wording of these emails suggested that only one person per program fill out the survey. However, there was no way to identify the specific programs to which respondents belonged, so it is possible that multiple faculty members in a given program may have responded to the survey separately (e.g., a VCS coordinator and an instructor). Demographic data indicated that 82% of respondents were VCS coordinators and 17% were not. Therefore, at most, 17% of the responses could be redundant. Future research should take steps to ensure the representativeness of their sample size. This might entail utilizing strict inclusion criteria, distributing the survey using unique rather than generic links, and specifically soliciting responses to ensure that a representative sample of the target population are included in the survey response data.

Another limitation is that the data may reflect self-selection bias. VCS coordinators/instructors who agree that philosophy is an important aspect of behavior analysis training may have been more likely to participate in this survey. It is possible that different answers would have been obtained if the sample had included more instructors who believe that philosophy is not an important component of graduate-level behavior analysis training. That being said, three respondents indicated teaching philosophy to be “very unimportant,” suggesting that our sample did include at least some amount of mixed views. Future research should take steps to obtain a larger and more representative sample size that captures a variety of opinions on teaching philosophy.

A final limitation relates to the construction of the survey itself. Many of our questions made use of pre-selected options (i.e., in the questions regarding the reasons for the importance of philosophy, behavioristic philosophies taught, and philosophy of science and psychological issues addressed; see Tables 2, 3, and 4). In addition, the language used to frame these questions may not have been sufficiently specific (e.g., some asked for topics “explicitly taught” and other asked for topics “included”). The structure of our questions may have limited the responses that our participants gave, or may have caused different participants to interpret the questions in different ways. Although closed-ended questions such as these are common in survey research, they may serve to prompt answers that may not otherwise be provided and/or restrict the answers that respondents give to the provided options (Krosnick & Presser, 2010). There was an “Other” option in each of these questions that allowed respondents to type in any answers not listed, and this evoked a moderate amount of responses for the questions regarding importance of philosophy and philosophies taught. However, this “Other” option evoked relatively few responses for the questions regarding philosophy of science and psychology topics addressed. This raises the question of whether some topics in these areas were omitted from reporting because they were not provided as options. For example, determinism, which we suggest is a fundamental issue in behaviorism, was accidentally omitted as an answer option for the question pertaining to philosophy of science topics addressed, and only one respondent provided this as an “Other” answer to this question. As such, some topics addressed in philosophy courses but not provided as answers may not have been reported.

Conclusion

We conducted a survey of VCS instructors to assess the current state of training in philosophy in behavior analysis graduate training programs. We found that nearly all coordinators/instructors reported that philosophical concepts and issues were “very important” to teach within their course sequences, and many indicated that philosophical concepts help to inform clinical practice and in training scientist practitioners. We found that, of those who responded to this survey, the most common primary texts assigned were books authored by B. F. Skinner. We also found that the most common behavioristic philosophies included as course topics were radical and methodological behaviorism. Finally, we found that instructors include a wide range of psychology-specific and philosophy of science topics.

Despite the small sample size, the current study serves as a first step towards evaluating what is taught in philosophy courses in behavior analysis coursework, and it is hoped that the results are useful for instructors as they design and redesign their philosophy courses. In particular, the lists of assigned readings and topics may serve as a helpful resource. A next step in this line of research would be for researchers to develop a study that would enable an analysis of how philosophical concepts and topics are taught, including information on course design, class activities, and assignments. The dissemination of such information would likely be valuable for instructors in developing new, and refining existing, courses.

Data Availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in the supplementary information files for this article (SI 4).

Compliance with Ethical Standards

Conflicts of Interest

The authors have no known financial conflicts of interest to declare. The first two authors are faculty members in a behavior analysis training program that is both ABAI accredited and contains a VCS. At the time of writing this article, Dr. Bethany P. Contreras serves as a VCS coordinator, and Dr. Matthew Lewon teaches course content related to philosophy of behavior analysis. We did not respond to the survey, nor did we include any information about our own behavior analysis training program in the current study or article.