THEORY IN BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS - AN APPLICATION TO CHILD-DEVELOPMENT

Theory in behavior analysis is described, and its application to developmental psychology is illustrated using examples from the literature on the development of infant memory and perceptual size constancy. Traditional approaches to development are briefly described and juxtaposed with a behavioral approach. Behavior-analytic theory is evaluated according to several criteria of good scientific theories. It is concluded that modern behavior-analytic theory, which grew largely out of the work of B. F. Skinner, succeeds well at explaining many of the facts of infant memory and perceptual size constancy and may also succeed at explaining facts in other areas of developmental psychology. Behavior analysis may thus be able to provide some theoretical uniformity in the field of developmental psychology.