Jim Johnston

November 2, 2015

Aphantasia

We’re all familiar with the phenomenon of seeming to experience sensations of different sorts in the absence of the events being “sensed.” We respond as if […]
September 29, 2015

Isn’t this just bribery?

Is there a practitioner who hasn’t faced this question? It may be innocently posed by a parent or teacher or perhaps not so innocently thrown down […]
August 18, 2015

The meaning of meaning

What is the single most important thing one must understand about behavior in order to be a behavior analyst? Apart from the basic laws of learning, […]
July 7, 2015

The web mentalism weaves

IFL Science! Is one of my favorite web sites. Although its writers can sometimes be found sliding down the slippery slope between scientific journals and popular […]
May 31, 2015

Afterword – A decade later

One of the most important books in our field is now ten years old, and a second edition will soon be published. Controversial Therapies for Developmental […]
April 20, 2015

Defining, labeling, and branding ABA procedures

Let’s talk about our own professional behavior again. Let’s consider the topic of how we define, label, and promote our technology – the procedures and treatment […]
February 18, 2015

The politics of behavior

Short of retreating to a desert island or remote mountain cabin, it seems impossible to escape today’s political noise.  Trying to tune it out cuts you […]
January 25, 2015

Form, function, and operational definitions

Let’s just lay it out there: There are only two fundamental approaches to defining a behavior (response class).   This limitation stems from the nature of behavior […]
January 12, 2015

It’s about the evidence

Our everyday dialect is filled with terms implying human qualities that seemingly explain our behavior.  There are thousands of these terms, often serving as nouns in […]