ArticleThe Behavior analyst2017
The Fuzzy Concept of Applied Behavior Analysis Research.
Article in The Behavior analyst, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 79 citations in OpenAlex.
- Research Patterns in the Treatment of Adults With Problem Behavior and Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: A Quantitative Systematic Review.Behavior modification · 2026Pooled it
- #ContentAnalysisofABAonTwitter/X: Finding Behavior Analysis' Heart on Social Media.Behavior analysis in practice · 2026Article
- A Systematic Review of Empirical Data from Behavior Analysis on Anti-Black Bias.Perspectives on behavior science · 2026Review
- A Clinical Demonstration of Individualized Restraint Fading.Behavior analysis in practice · 2026Article
- "Wearing Two Hats Helped Me Look at the Bigger Picture": An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Being a Parent and a Clinician in Behavior Analysis.Behavior analysis in practice · 2026Article
- A Call to Action for Qualitative Behavior Analysis.Behavior analysis in practice · 2026Article
- A functional approach to social media assessment: Initial psychometric evaluation of the Social Media Use Functional Assessment.Journal of applied behavior analysis · 2026Article
- Autism Early Intervention - Progress, Steps Backward, and the Reconciliation of Conflicting Narratives.Current psychiatry reports · 2024Review
- How Can Qualitative Methods Be Applied to Behavior Analytic Research: A Discussion and Suggestions for Implementation.Behavior analysis in practice · 2024Review
- The Evolution of the Conceptually Systematic Dimension and Its Current Functions in Applied Behavior Analysis.Perspectives on behavior science · 2024Review
- Current Dimensions of Applied Behavior Analysis in Mainland China: A Review of 20 Years of Research.Behavior analysis in practice · 2023Review
- Measuring the Dissemination Impact of Culturo-Behavioral Science.Behavior and social issues · 2023Article
- Rethinking the Place of Qualitative Methods in Behavior Analysis.Perspectives on behavior science · 2023Review
- Social Justice is the Spirit and Aim of an Applied Science of Human Behavior: Moving from Colonial to Participatory Research Practices.Behavior analysis in practice · 2022Review
- Ecological Momentary Assessment: A Systematic Review of Validity Research.Perspectives on behavior science · 2022Article
- ABA from A to Z: Behavior Science Applied to 350 Domains of Socially Significant Behavior.Perspectives on behavior science · 2022Article
- Practical Considerations for Researchers at Teaching-Focused Colleges.Behavior analysis in practice · 2022Review
- Humble Behaviorism Redux.Behavior and social issues · 2022Article
- Applied Quantitative Analysis of Behavior: What It Is, and Why We Care-Introduction to the Special Section.Perspectives on behavior science · 2021Article
- Can the Early Start Denver Model Be Considered ABA Practice?Behavior analysis in practice · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
A seven-dimension framework, introduced by Baer, Wolf, and Risley in an iconic 1968 article, has become the de facto gold standard for identifying "good" work in applied behavior analysis. We examine the framework's historical context and show how its overarching attention to social relevance first arose and then subsequently fueled the growth of applied behavior analysis. Ironically, however, in contemporary use, the framework serves as a bottleneck that prevents many socially important problems from receiving adequate attention in applied behavior analysis research. The core problem lies in viewing the framework as a conjoint set in which "good" research must reflect all seven dimensions at equally high levels of integrity. We advocate a bigger-tent version of applied behavior analysis research in which, to use Baer and colleagues' own words, "The label applied is determined not by the procedures used but by the interest society shows in the problem being studied." Because the Baer-Wolf-Risley article expressly endorses the conjoint-set perspective and devalues work that falls outside the seven-dimension framework, pitching the big tent may require moving beyond that article as a primary frame of reference for defining what ABA should be.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.