Scholarly publications

Includes peer reviewed journals within and adjacent to behavior analysis

(Starred journals available to BCBAs through the BACB portal)

Behavior Analysis in Practice
4/14 Reilly, A.M., Crowell, G.E., Thoele, J.M. et al. School-Based Transdisciplinary Teaming to Maximize Behavioral Supports. Behav Analysis Practice (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-025-01054-z
(Open access) Using a transdisciplinary model, the authors describe how to collaborate with a school team

Behavioral Interventions *
4/17 McCord, B.E., Zhou, L. and Hu, X. (2025), A Choice Analysis of Food Stealing Consequences in Children With Autism. Behavioral Interventions, 40: e70010. https://doi.org/10.1002/bin.70010
With a functional analysis of 18 autistic children, the authors found that food stealing was most frequently maintained by automatic reinforcement. This seems obvious, but it is important to have data to confirm "obvious" ideas

Perspectives on Behavior Science
4/17 Rakos, R.F., Rehfeldt, R.A. & Killeen, P.R. The Free Will: Determinism Debate in Contemporary Science and Society (Or: Why Are You Reading This Article?). Perspect Behav Sci (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40614-025-00447-3
A wide-ranging discussion on free will centered around two recent mass-market books by scientists; the authors of this piece settle on "probabilistic determinism" as a description of what they believe to be the most likely model

Behavior and Social Issues
4/17 Bell, M.C., Rios, D., Fahmie, T.A. et al. Centering the Voices of Racially and Ethnically Marginalized Groups in Behavior Analysis: A Survey on Student Experiences during Mentorship. Behav. Soc. Iss. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42822-025-00201-z
What does culturally-responsive mentorship look like, and does the BACB care?

Education and Treatment of Children
4/15 Tyler, P.M., Hurley, K.D., Mitchell, A.K. et al. Educator Perspectives on Safe and Effective Classrooms for Students. Educ. Treat. Child. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43494-025-00156-1
In a survey of 109 teachers, they report that there is a lack of time, funding, and support to help kids with social-emotional challenges. The teachers also share strategies for improving these efforts

4/16 Bardhoshi, G., Gao, Q., Rodgers, D.B. et al. A Psychometric Analysis of an Adapted Knowledge, Confidence, and Use Survey for a Webinar Series. Educ. Treat. Child. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43494-025-00154-3
(Open access) A complex discussion on how to make professional development webinars for teachers more effective, and how that could be measured on surveys

The Psychological Record
4/17 de Souza Neto, A.C., Sampaio, A.A.S., Picanço, C.R.F. et al. Establishing Derived Rule-Following and Evaluating the Effects of Derivation on Persistence. Psychol Rec (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-025-00639-y
In this study, college students were taught relations (same/different and before/after) and exposed to stimuli that conformed to those rules, then rewarded or punished for following those rules. Following rules after punishment would imply persistence. In this study they found that the students were not persistent, which conflicts with other findings, and the authors attempt to explain why

Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science
4/15 Post-traumatic stress, cognitive fusion, and intolerance of uncertainty as longitudinal predictors of post-traumatic growth from the COVID-19 pandemic
(In press) Cognitive fusion and intolerance of uncertainty predicted the growth of post-traumatic stress in individuals after Covid

4/19 COMPARING COGNITIVE COPING COMPONENTS: AN INVESTIGATION OF TREATMENT OUTCOMES AND PROCESSES
(In press) Interestingly, the authors used both cognitive restructuring and ACT concepts of willingness in an online program and found it to be effective. Steve Hayes regards cognitive restructuring as unhelpful and even potentially counterproductive 

Book publications

Textbooks, handbooks, manuals, or mass-market

Upcoming:
Handbook of Operant Behavioral Economics, Reed, Kaplan & Gilroy (Eds.) (Available Jul. 1, 2025)
Ethical Decision Making in Applied Behavior Analysis, Schwartz & Kelly (Available now)

New this quarter:
Leadership and Management Practices in Human Services Organizations, Gardner et al.
Principles of Applied Behavior Analysis for Behavior Technicians and Other Practitioners, 4/E, Wallace & Mayer
Behavior Analysis for Lasting Change, 6/E, Mayer, Wallace, & Sulzer-Azaroff 

Using Functional Analysis in Psychotherapy, Niklas Törneke
Handbook for Behavioral Skills Training, Edition 1, Sturmey & Maffei-Almodovar 

Research Methods in Applied Behavior Analysis (3rd Edition), Bailey & Burch
Multiculturalism and Diversity in Applied Behavior Analysis: Bridging Theory and Application (2nd Edition), Conners & Capell (Eds.)
Talk Behavior to Me: The Routledge Dictionary of the Top 150 Behavior Analytic Terms and Translations, Samuel
The Behavior of Social Justice, Parks et al.
A Practical Guide to Functional Assessment and Treatment for Severe Problem Behavior, Jessel & Sturmey (Eds.)
Handbook of Organizational Performance, Volume II, D. Johnson & C. Johnson (Eds.)

Recent:

2024

2023

Podcasts

ABA Inside Track
Episode 307 - Tutorial: Token Economies

Behavioral Observations
Altering the Relative Efficiencies of Responses for Behavioral Improvement: Session 297 with Steve Ward

Blogs

Generally these are produced by professionals

ABAI
VOX Tech: The Language Calculator
An interesting 4 quadrant graph of verbal behavior; more here

Licensing & professional organizations

ASAN
ASAN Statement on Updated Autism Diagnosis Numbers Amidst Attacks on Autistic People
An excellent summary of why diagnosis numbers have increased. If you read this over the course of 5 minutes you will know more about autism than anyone in the federal government

Leading Autism Organizations Release Joint Statement on Upholding Scientific Integrity and Supporting the Autism Community

Business world

Autism services, behavioral health, etc.

New CDC Data Show 17% Increase in Autism Rate
Perfect timing to both eliminate CDC funding and to find the cause of autism by September. For a comprehensive explanation, see the ASAN blog above. And hopefully the next administration will find upwards of 0.18% of our federal budget to care for the people in society who need it.

Accidentally behavior analysis

A mainstream news article that relates to behavior analysis

Have We Been Thinking About A.D.H.D. All Wrong?, The NYT
What if ADHD is not a problem inside you, but an environmental relation? Shockingly, this may become a more mainstream opinion thanks to the very mainstream New York Times, which published a relatively behaviorist argument for understanding what is often characterized as a “brain condition.” All the way back in 1960, Murray Sidman wrote a paper entitled “Normal Sources of Pathological Behavior.”

Continuing education

UPCOMING:

BehaviorLive is back to posting free events: 4/23 (SUP), 4/24 

Flashback

“When does he have time to be a kid? Fifteen hours!”

7 years ago, the authors published a ethnographic study, largely focused on narrative interviews, of 6 families and their experience with ABA. Five of six families effectively had negative experiences. Reading their accounts of receiving services is fascinating and gives insight into how families feel. 

For some families, the time commitment was too much. For some, having their children respond negatively to therapy (e.g., crying) was unacceptable. For some, being told to ignore their children was inappropriate. These are lessons to use when communicating with families.