Scholarly publications

Includes peer reviewed journals within and adjacent to behavior analysis

(Starred journals available to BCBAs through the BACB portal)

Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis *
6/18 Dowling, E. W., Sloman, K. N., McGarry, K. M., & Martinez-Perez, C. N. (2026). Relations between heart rate and precursors: A replication and extension of prior research. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 59(3), e70072. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.70072
Previously, attempting to predict challenging behavior from measures of heart rate alone was a failure. The authors attempted to examine whether heart rate changes around precursor behaviors would lead to effective predictions, but this was not the case 

Behavior Analysis in Practice Volume 19, Issue 2 (40 articles, 14 open access)
Most intriguing: Exploring the Epistemological Significance of Qualitative Research in Behavior Analysis
(Open access) Interesting to see what could be a mainstreaming of qualitative research  

6/16 Gunnarsson, K.F., Rzeszutek, M.J., Malkin, A. et al. A Function-Based Examination of Social Media Demand. Behav Analysis Practice (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-026-01197-7
(Open access) The authors analyzed operant demand for social media using a hypothetical purchase task with university students, finding that demand and cost sensitivity depended on function of use. People who use social media for attention (e.g., receiving likes) were most sensitive to cost, implying that they were most at-risk for problem use 

6/17 Burnham Riosa, P., Robertson, T., Malkin, A. et al. Community Insights on Autistic Self-Advocates’ Perspectives and Experiences Regarding ABA. Behav Analysis Practice (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-026-01186-w
From an online panel, the authors identify 3 themes: 1) listening, 2) person-centered approach, and 3) continuous improvement 

Behavioral Interventions * Volume 41, Issue 3 (13 articles, 2 open access)
Most intriguing: The Effects of Observation Conspicuousness on Data Collection Timeliness
People take data more accurately if they think someone is watching 

6/20 Ochoa, Claudia A., Zachary C. LaBrot, Margaret Powell, Fiso Ncube, Amarah Sweaks, and Brad Dufrene. 2026. “Collaboration in the Digital Age: Virtual Behavioral Skills Training to Teach Effective Instruction Delivery for Children With Autism,” Behavioral Interventions: e70120. https://doi.org/10.1002/bin.70120
3 parents who were trained via computer to effectively deliver instructions to their children learned the skills and maintained them for 5 weeks 

Behavior and Social Issues Volume 35, Issue 1 (23 articles, 4 open access)
Most intriguing: On Community and Revolution: Connections between Walden Two and The Conquest of Bread
(Open access) We have noted the public information that implies that Skinner was an anarchist, and while the authors of this piece don't seem to reference News From Nowhere, they correctly identify the themes of Walden Two 

6/19 Tourinho, E., Borba, A. & Cihon, T. Fascist Cultural Practices in the Twenty-First Century. Behav. Soc. Iss. (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42822-026-00261-9
(Open access) Fascism: what is it from a behavioral perspective, and what can be done to combat it (focused on what is happening in Brazil) 

Behavior Modification *
6/19 Haidar, B., Alqunaysi, R., Meadan, H., Martin Loya, M. R., & De Alwis, M. (2026). Cultural Adaptation of a Caregiver Training Program for Arabic-Speaking Families: Feasibility and Social Validity. Behavior Modification, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/01454455261444277
14 caregivers in Saudi Arabia were trained asynchronously to use behavior strategies, and qualitative interviews examined the effects, which were largely positive 

Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior * Volume 126, Issue 1 (9 articles, 6 open access)
Most intriguing: The Genoeconomics of Impulsive Intertemporal Choice: A Critical Review
(Open access) Posted this week, this article goes into detail about the history of delay discounting 

6/16 Palomino, M., Sosa, R., Mateos, Á., Pellón, R., & López-Tolsa, G. E. (2026). Shaping the extinction burst: Increasing its probability and preventing its emergence across topographies. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 126(1), e70119. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeab.70119
(Open access) In a translational experiment, rats received 3 food pellets on an FR1 schedule, then were exposed to extinction. If target behavior was reinforced, extinction bursts persisted. In the rats exposed to extinction without reinforcement, later topographies did not experience extinction burst, implying that there was a generalization effect. Given the findings of this study, the authors speculate that extinction bursts are effectively learned behavior 

6/18 Deng, W. Q., Belisario, K. L., Doggett, A., Elsayed, M., Cooper, A., & MacKillop, J. (2026). The Genoeconomics of Impulsive Intertemporal Choice: A Critical Review. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 126(1), e70120. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeab.70120
(Open access) Delay discounting is examined as a genetic factor, though the authors admit that it is possible to alter 

The Psychological Record
6/16 Grisante, P.C., Morais, S.M., de Moraes Hamasaki, E.I. et al. Emergent Reading of Japanese Hiragana via Stimulus Equivalence: A Preliminary Approach. Psychol Rec (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-026-00691-2
(Open access) 3 Portuguese speakers used an MTS procedure to learn Hiragana (nonalphabetic sound symbols). All 3 had signs of emergent relations, with 2 showing emergent reading of Hiragana 

Journal of Behavioral Education
6/18 Buttigieg, S., Greer, R. Establishment of Reinforcement for Looking at Books in Free-Play Settings Accelerates Preschoolers’ Learning to Read First Words. J Behav Educ (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10864-026-09636-9
(Open access) All but one of 11 special ed and 5 gen ed preschoolers learned their first words 1.6-10.8 times faster after books were conditioned as reinforcers. This is a replication/extension of some of Greer's other work

Book publications

Textbooks, handbooks, manuals, or mass-market

Upcoming:
Nonlinear Contingency Analysis: Going Beyond Cognition and Behavior in Clinical Practice, Layng, Andronis, Codd, Abdel-Jalil (Eds.) (Nov 2026)
Case Studies and Applications in Nonlinear Contingency Analysis, Abdel-Jalil & Linnehan (Eds.) (Oct 2026)
Personal Narratives on the Behavior Analysis of Human Language and Cognition: Stories from Around the World, Harte et al. (Eds.) (Jul 2026)
WAVE Prosocial Assessment and Curriculum, Rehfeldt & Dixon (Pre-order)
Digital Technologies in Behavior Science: Theoretical and Practical Applications, Crone-Todd, Hantula, Layng (Eds.)
AIM Navigators, Dixon (Pre-order)
Promoting Language for Learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Verbal Behavior Guide for Practitioners, Vladescu & Kissamore (Eds.)
Navigating Ethics in Behavior Analysis: Dealing with Gray Areas, Carr

Recent:
2025
2024
2023

Podcasts

ABA Inside Track
Conceptual Learning w/ Dr. Catherine Williams

All Things Behavior
The History of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board's Ethics Codes with Tyra Sellers and Holly Seniuk

Blogs

Generally these are produced by professionals

ABAI
World Cup Special Edition: The Beautiful Game, Magical Mands, and Divine Intercession
"No atheists in a foxhole" but make it World Cup 

So, you passed the BCBA exam, now what?
Growing concern around the obvious AI slop in the ABAI blogs 

Licensing & professional organizations

ASAT
A Treatment Summary of Dietary Interventions for Autism
They don't work, but at least most aren't harmful 

ASAN
Moving Department of Education Offices Will Hurt Students with Disabilities

Business world

Autism services, behavioral health, etc.

RFK Jr. Will Oversee Disability Education Policy and DOJ memo stokes fear among disability advocates of a return to institutionalization and More Than 770,000 Children Are No Longer Receiving SNAP Benefits After Trump Changes Federal Food Program and Medicaid cuts are beginning to have effects
Sure it all sounds bad, but to be fair, we need to focus on fighting a war (on algae)

Accidentally behavior analysis

A mainstream news article that relates to behavior analysis

Are Memories Transferable — or Edible?, Quanta
Previously we highlighted this story in a note; it is a follow-up to earlier stories of replication and extension of McConnell’s work. However, the author talks to some experimenters who were not able to condition learning behavior with planaria, despite some heroic efforts. She concludes that perhaps planaria cannot learn. 

We believe that this is an error, attributable to the vague definition implied by “learn.” Are planaria not subject to evolutionary pressures? That seems to be implausible. Even bacteria “learn” – because, as we wrote previously, “learning” in these organisms is strictly limited to “phylogenetically important events” (PIEs).

Why couldn’t the experimenters condition behavior with planaria? We can only speculate.

Continuing education

UPCOMING:

BehaviorLive has free events: 6/23, 6/24, 6/25

Flashback

The Harvard archives through Watters’ eyes

Audrey Watters wrote an interesting book entitled Teaching Machines. On her blog, she detailed 5 days in the Harvard archives, frantically sifting through dozens of boxes of Skinner’s personal correspondence.

• Day 1

• Day 2

• Day 3

• Day 4

• Day 5

Among her findings: Skinner wrote and received a lot of letters. In her estimation, he wrote frequently to complain to businesses, sometimes about the ethics of their salespeople. He wrote letters to the editor, correcting their mistakes reporting on science. He also wrote to support a former student who became a conscientious objector.