A short history of the Society for Quantitative Analyses of Behavior.

Abstract

The Society for Quantitative Analyses of Behavior (SQAB) was founded in 1978 to present symposia and publish on focused cross-disciplinary topics in quantitative analyses of behavior. Quantitative Analyses of Behavior now generally refers to the representation of theoretical and applied issues in quantitative and computer form. An analysis is not primarily a matter of fitting arbitrary functions to data points. Rather, each parameter and variable in a model represents part of a process that has theoretical, empirical, and applied interpretations. ********** The first Harvard Symposium on Quantitative Analyses of Behavior addressed Discriminative Properties of Reinforcement Schedules. It was organized in 1977 by Michael L. Commons and James E. Mazur with help from John A. Nevin. The Dare Association, Inc. and later the Dare Institute provided support. Richard J. Herrnstein, who planned to join us for this symposium, had to miss it because he had to be in Missouri the day of the symposium. The symposium was held on a single day, Friday, April 7, 1978 in William James Hall at Harvard University. We all adjourned to The Hungry Persian, a local Middle Eastern Restaurant. There the group decided to try to publish papers from the symposium and also decided to have us organize a yearly symposium. Michael L. Commons and John A. Nevin were appointed editors. Here is a reproduction of the first program based on a copy of Kennon A. Lattal's original. FIRST HARVARD SYMPOSIUM ON SCHEDULES AS DISCRIMINATIVE STIMULI CHAIRPERSONS: MICHAEL L. COMMONS AND JAMES E. MAZUR, HARVARD UNIVERSITY 9:00 am PSYCHOPHYSICS HELPFUL IN LOOK AT SCHEDULES AS DISCRIMINATIVE STIMULI JOHN A. NEVIN UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE JOHN GIBBON COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY MICHAEL TERMAN NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY 11:00 am NUMBER OF EVENTS OR RESPONSES AS DISCRIMINATIVE STIMULI MARK RILLING MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY SALLY HOBSON ADELPHI UNIVERSITY 1:00 pm NUMBER OF EVENTS OR RESPONSES AS DISCRIMINATIVE STIMULI PAUL BRANDON MANKATO STATE UNIVERSITY LEILA COHEN NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY 2:30 pm DENSITY OF EVENTS OR RESPONSES AS DISCRIMINATIVE STIMULI MICHAEL COMMONS HARVARD UNIVERSITY 3:00 pm TIME AS A DISCRIMINATIVE STIMULI ALAN STUBBS UNIVERSITY OF MAINE CHARLOTTE MANDELL UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE STANLEY PLISKOFF UNIVERSITY OF MAINE 4:45 pm CONTINGENCIES AS DISCRIMINATIVE STIMULI KENNON A. LATTAL WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY 7:30 pm SCHEDULES AS DISCRIMINATIVE STIMULI PETER KILLEEN ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY JOHN C. MALONE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE NANCY INNIS UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO WILLIAM BAUM UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE Our goal has been to have yearly discussions of important material in Quantitative Analysis of Behavior. Such discussion with publication would tend to accelerate the process by which Quantitative Analyses of Behavior would become the dominant approach to behavior analysis and learning in general. Its non-doctrinaire approach could help end the divisions that had grown up between the various disciplines in psychology, and their descendants . Most all chapters and papers resulting from the symposia were reviewed openly, the reviewers signing their comments. This has made the interchanges more constructive and civil. The following year, Howard Rachlin joined Michael L. Commons, Richard J. Herrnstein, and John A. Nevin in organizing a program on Matching and Maximizing, held in early June, 1979. Essentially, SQAB was run in the very early days by myself and Richard J. Herrnstein with consultations from John Anthony Nevin and Howard Rachlin. Herrnstein was the Harvard Faculty member who sponsored the symposia at Harvard. That way the space was free. Nevin and Commons would discuss what we thought might make good topics. …

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