Neither dark age nor renaissance: Research and authorship trends in the experimental analysis of human behavior (1980-1999)

The anniversary of several milestones in the experimental analysis of human behavior (EAHB) provides a prompt for updating previous surveys of EAHB publication trends, which portrayed the field's overall health as good but raised questions about its breadth and trajectory. For the years 1980 through 1999, we examined trends in annual frequency of data-based EAHB articles published in the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (JEAB); in the topical emphasis of those EAHB articles; in the geographic region of origin of EAHB articles; and in the relative contributions of new and veteran authors. Our findings show continued productivity in the field, but contradict an earlier report by showing little sustained growth in EAHB over roughly the past 15 years. In terms of authorship, an increasing proportion of EAHB articles are authored by veteran investigators, although the field also benefits from a steady infusion of new authors. International participation in EAHB is limited, with most EAHB research originating in North America. In terms of content, our findings replicate those of previous reports in showing stimulus control and reinforcement and punishment to be the field's most commonly addressed research topics, although content emphases apparently differ across regions of origin. Overall, the data depict EAHB at the close of the 20th century as a multifaceted enterprise, one that is neither bankrupt nor at its full potential for contributing to the overall analysis of behavior. We close with some observations on the value of this type of archival research and some suggestions for improving the archival characterization of the field.     

The Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior at zero, fifty, and one hundred

The experimental content areas represented in JEAB in its first volume (1958) and 50 years later in Volume 87 are in many ways similar with regard to research on schedules of reinforcement, research with human subjects, and several other topics. Experimental analysis has not been displaced by quantitative analysis. Much less research on aversive control has been published in recent than in earlier years. Wishes for progress in the next 50 years include experiments on verbal behavior, the sources of novel behavior, and observing responses based on stimuli correlated with escape or avoidance.     

The analysis of human operant behavior: A brief census of the literature: 1958-1981

A census involving several major journals was conducted to survey the content and scope of the experimental analysis of human behavior. While the percentage of reports involving human subjects published each year in JEAB has lacked consistency, it was shown that JEAB has been the primary outlet for human work among the journals surveyed. Few areas of interest within the study of human behavior have received extensive scrutiny. The normal adult (typically undergraduate students) has been the preferred subject for human research. The results of a citation analysis of JEAB reports featuring human research are also presented.     

Self- and cross-citations in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior: 1993-2003

Self- and cross-citations in JABA and JEAB from 1993 through 2003 were examined. Yearly mean levels of self-citation for JABA and JEAB were 34.9% and 33.2%, respectively. Overall, 7.8% of JABA citations were JEAB articles, and 0.6% of JEAB citations were JABA articles. The former value, but not the latter, is substantially higher than the cross-citation level reported for earlier years. The two JEAB articles most often cited in JABA were published over 20 years ago and are concerned with establishing operations and the matching law.     

Sources cited most frequently in the experimental analysis of human behavior

We conducted an analysis of the sources cited most frequently in primary empirical reports in the experimental analysis of human behavior (EAHB) published in four journals between 1990 and 1999. Citation patterns suggest that modern EAHB is topically focused and relatively independent of both animal operant research and human research conducted outside of behavior analysis.     

The selective renaissance of the experimental analysis of human behavior

Two recent articles (Dougherty, Nedelmann, & Alfred, 1993; Hyten & Reilly, 1992) have favorably appraised the growth and health of the experimental analysis of human behavior as a whole. Within the last decade alone, there has been a more than threefold increase in the percentage of human operant papers appearing in the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. In the present paper, a more molecular analysis is used, and some concerns are raised about the overall health of the field. The analysis included a determination of the rate at which new authors have appeared, how several areas of research have grown, and a contrast between the proportion of papers appearing in each of several areas of research during the last two decades. Two primary concerns are raised in this paper: (a) The recent growth within the field has been in only three select research areas (general schedule control, reinforcement, and stimulus control), and (b) there is an increasing disparity between the number of papers published in the few areas of research receiving the most attention and the number of papers published in the other areas of research receiving the least attention. Although the experimental analysis of human behavior has made considerable progress in the mere number of publications, these publications have been somewhat limited in scope.     

Twenty-five years of JEAB: A survey of selected demographic characteristics related to publication trends

Some demographic characteristics related to authorship of research reports in the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (JEAB) were analyzed as to affiliation and location (U.S. or foreign) of authors. In addition, the incidence of publications by the members of the editorial board was tallied. The number of different affiliations of JEAB authors has decreased steadily over the past several years with substantially fewer papers deriving from independent laboratories and medical schools. While the number of papers by foreign authors has generally increased over the years there is a recent reduction in their number. These data paint a mixed picture of the "health" status of the experimental analysis of behavior as reflected in its major publication outlet.     

International publication trends in the experimental analysis of behavior

The present paper assessed international publication trends in the experimental analysis of behavior by recording the geographical origin of the first authors of articles in the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (JEAB), the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA), and The Behavior Analyst (TBA). Five international categories were identified: Australasia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and North America. A cooperative category was also employed to assess the number of publications with authors from different international categories. First, the percentage and number of international articles published in JEAB, JABA, and TBA are presented. Second, a more detailed analysis of the publication rates within the international categories is presented. The number and rate at which new authors from the categories appeared and the percentage of articles published by different authors are also presented. Some limitations of the review and suggestions for increasing international participation in behavior analysis are outlined.     

Participation by women in behavior analysis

The participation of women in behavior analysis as authors of articles published in the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (JEAB) and the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA), as members of the Association for Behavior Analysis (ABA), and as contributors to the 1982 ABA convention was examined. Since the inception of JEAB and JABA, men have appeared as authors far more frequently than women, although women have published relatively more frequently in the latter journal than in the former. Across years, there has been an upward trend in the proportion of JEAB authors who are female; this is not the case for all JABA authors, although it does hold for senior authors. In 1980-1981 and 1981-1982, females represented approximately half of ABA's student and affiliate members but less than a third of its full members. Approximately a third of the contributors to posters and symposia and a seventh of those delivering invited addresses at the 1982 ABA convention were women.     

Self- and cross-citations in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior: 1983-1992

We examined self- and cross-citation practices in JABA and JEAB from 1983 through 1992. Mean levels of self-citation for JABA and for JEAB were 22.6% and 36.1%, respectively. Overall, 2.4% of JABA citations were JEAB articles, and 0.6% of JEAB citations were JABA articles, which suggests limited integration of basic and applied research.     

JEAB Research Over Time: Species Used,Experimental Designs,Statistical Analyses,and Sex of Subjects

We examined the species used as subjects in every article published in the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (JEAB) from 1958 through 2013. We also determined the sex of subjects in every article with human subjects (N = 524) and in an equal number of randomly selected articles with nonhuman subjects, as well as the general type of experimental designs used. Finally, the percentage of articles reporting an inferential statistic was determined at 5-year intervals. In all, 35,317 subjects were studied in 3,084 articles; pigeons ranked first and humans second in number used. Within-subject experimental designs were more popular than between-subjects designs regardless of whether human or nonhuman subjects were studied but were used in a higher percentage of articles with nonhumans (75.4 %) than in articles with humans (68.2 %). The percentage of articles reporting an inferential statistic has increased over time, and more than half of the articles published in 2005 and 2010 reported one. Researchers who publish in JEAB frequently depart from Skinner’s preferred research strategy, but it is not clear whether such departures are harmful. Finally, the sex of subjects was not reported in a sizable percentage of articles with both human and nonhuman subjects. This is an unfortunate oversight.     

An empirical update (1969-1989) of D. L. Krantz's thesis that the experimental analysis of behavior is isolated

Citation data from 1970 to 1989 were examined in order to determine whether the "isolation" of the experimental analysis of behavior (EAB) that was originally documented by Krantz (1971, 1972) has persisted beyond the early 1970s. Our findings from analyses of the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (JEAB) and of related journals support the following conclusions: (1) In the 20-year period since 1969, JEAB has continued to cite its own articles ("self-cite") at a higher rate than related journals; (2) JEAB's self-citation rate decreased by a larger amount since 1969 than did that of related journals; and (3) JEAB was cited with diminishing frequency by some related journals during the 20-year period. These findings and other disciplinary comparisons provide information relevant to the issue of the health of behavior analysis and related specialties.     

Selected publication trends in JEAB: Implications for the vitality of the experimental analysis of behavior

To provide some insight into the current vitality of the experimental analysis of behavior, we updated and extended an analysis by R. A. Williams and Buskist (1983) of selected trends in the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. Specifically, the number of articles published and the percentage of those articles that were empirical, the number of different affiliations of authors and number of articles per affiliation, the types of subjects used in empirical articles, and the topics investigated were analyzed for the years 1958 through 1999. Although several trends may point to a decline in the overall well-being of the experimental analysis of behavior, they may also be interpreted as signs of progress for the field.     

Women in the experimental analysis of behavior

We examined the status of women in the experimental analysis of behavior by comparing authorship by women in the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (JEAB) to authorship by women in three similar journals. For all journals, the percentage of articles with at least one female author, the percentage of authors who are female, and the percentage of articles with a female first author increased from 1978 to 1997. However, the participation by women in JEAB lagged behind participation in the other journals on each measure. Female membership on the editorial board of JEAB also failed to increase from 1978 to 1997. Suggestions are made that may increase the participation of women in the experimental analysis of behavior.     

On the impact of human operant research: Asymmetrical patterns of cross-citation between human and nonhuman research

Reactions to published accounts of research with human subjects, as well as research with nonhuman subjects, were assessed by examining citations in several samples of empirical articles in the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. A stable, asymmetrical pattern emerged: Nonhuman research was cited in both human and nonhuman articles, but human research was cited primarily in human articles. Thus, human operant research appears to have had little influence on the nonhuman research which constitutes the bulk of the experimental analysis of behavior. Interpretation of this lack of impact depends on the functions one envisions for human research, several of which are discussed.     

Critique of recent empirical research on insight and symptomatology in schizophrenia

During the past decade there has been a resurgence of interest in investigating the relationship between insight and symptomatology among clients with schizophrenia. The breadth and depth of the articles have dramatically increased over the past 10 years, including the number of empirical research studies. This article summarizes the strengths and limitations of the empirical research focused on the association between insight and severity of psychotic symptoms and published between 1990 and 1999.     

Trends in Behavior-Analytic Gambling Research and Treatment

The purpose of the present review was to analyze research outcomes for all gambling studies reported in the behavior analysis literature. We used the search term “gambling” to identify articles that were published in behaviorally oriented journals between the years 1992 and 2012 and categorized the content of each article as empirical or conceptual. Next, we examined and categorized the empirical articles by inclusion of an experimental manipulation and treatment to alleviate at least some aspect of pathological gambling, participant population used, type of gambling task employed in the research, whether the participants in the study actually gambled, and the behavioral phenomena of interest. The results show that the rate of publication of gambling research has increased in the last 6 years, and a vast majority of articles are empirical. Of the empirical articles, examinations of treatment techniques or methods are scarce; slot machine play is the most represented form of gambling, and slightly greater than half of the research included compensation based on gambling outcomes within experiments. We discuss implications and future directions based on these observations of the published literature.     

Is There Any Empirical Support for Bowen's Concepts of Differentiation of Self,

Murray Bowen's Family Systems Theory is considered by many to be the most thorough and thoughtful set of ideas that family therapy has created (Nichols & Schwartz, 1995). But does the literature support his concepts and ideas? This article reviewed eight empirical research articles published in the last decade or so in which Bowenian concepts were tested. The purpose was to determine whether there is any empirical support for Bowen's concepts of differentiation of self, triangulation, and fusion. Some of Bowen's notions were supported by empirical data and two valid and reliable instruments designed to test Bowenian concepts were created.     

What research paradigms have cognitive psychologists used to study "false memory," and what are the implications of these choices?

This research examines the methodologies employed by cognitive psychologists to study "false memory," and assesses if these methodologies are likely to facilitate scientific progress or perhaps constrain the conclusions reached. A PsycINFO search of the empirical publications in cognitive psychology was conducted through January, 2004, using the subject heading, "false memory." The search produced 198 articles. Although there is an apparent false memory research bandwagon in cognitive psychology, with increasing numbers of studies published on this topic over the past decade, few researchers (only 13.1% of the articles) have studied false memory as the term was originally intended--to specifically refer to planting memory for an entirely new event that was never experienced in an individual's lifetime. Cognitive psychologists interested in conducting research relevant to assessing the authenticity of memories for child sexual abuse should consider the generalizability of their research to the planting of entirely new events in memory.     

Publication trends in school psychology: 1963–1973

Articles appearing in three school psychology journals from 1963–1973 were classified and organized into 16 topic areas. Trends of published interests over the years 1963–1966, 1967–1969, and 1970–1973 were identified. Articles concerning Professional Identity were most prominent in the early years of the decade covered; Instrument Development and Evaluation, an area which was consistently popular over the decade, ranked highest during the last period evaluated. The most noteworthy trend in publication has been the growing diversification of published interests in the field of school psychology.