 Dr. John D. Baldwin has appreciated the power of behavior analysis since graduate school. His first field studies on monkeys in the rainforests of Central and South America convinced him that primates learn a great deal of their behavior repertoire; these naturalistic studies laid the foundation for a lifetime of studying behavior au naturel. By 1981 his primate research led him to reject sociobiology (in Beyond Sociobiology), and shortly thereafter he turned his attention to human behavior in everyday life. One of his central findings is that sensation-seeking behavior plays a crucial role in childhood development and many adult activities — in both humans and other primates. Sensory stimulation is a crucial primary reinforcer for exploration, play, creativity, and more. Dr. Baldwin has mastered the use of sensory stimulation in teaching and lecturing, in hopes of exciting people about the power of behavioral principles, and his Behavior Principles in Everyday Life (co-authored with his wife Janice, and now in its 4th edition) has succeeded in demonstrating the value of behavior analysis in our daily experiences. Currently, Dr. Baldwin is writing a book to help end the “science wars” by anchoring science on George Herbert Mead’s version of pragmatism, a very behavioral philosophy. Dr. Baldwin received his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1967, and has been a professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara ever since. |
| Abstract: Behavior analysis began in well-controlled laboratory settings, then branched out to applied settings. Our next domain is the study of everyday life, which can accelerate the development of behavior analytic approaches to all aspects of human life. First, are the personal benefits from understanding and living our own lives better. Second, observations from everyday life suggest ideas for laboratory studies. Clinical work also benefits: Knowledge about the contingencies of natural settings can inform clinicians about the types of interventions most likely to generalize to their subjects everyday lives. Third, teaching behavior principles inspires more enthusiasm when we employ examples from the environments that our students and the public know best, their own lives. Effective, data-based analyses of this nature are a powerful demonstration of the scope of our science. B. F. Skinner was adept in using naturalistic observations; we can build on his example. Fourth, our science promises to improve the human condition, as we show increasing numbers of people how to apply behavior analytic skills to all domains of their lives: relationships, family life, the workplace, etc. By expanding our range of analyses, we make our science more inclusive, and, perhaps, more widely used and valued. |