Meredith Bautista
EDAB 6100-601
Patrick Mallory
August 31, 2025
Module 2: Pre-Class – Paradigm Shifts in ABA
I think the progression of scientific advancement proposed by Kuhn is aligned
with the history of behavior analysis. Thomas Kuhn explains the process that scientific
revolutions emerge when newer and better explanations surface through developing research
efforts. The Kuhn Cycle distinguishes each phase that leads to a scientific paradigm shift. This
model is aligned to the steps in which research ideas are developed in the field of ABA. More
specifically, the Kuhn cycle includes the four phases prior to a paradigm change: Pre-science,
model drift, model crisis, and model revolution. In the field of ABA, the scientific method
includes the following steps: observation/question, examine empirical research, develop a
hypothesis, test and refine the hypothesis, and submit data for peer review. Both models or cycles
emphasize the fact that research is constantly changing and up for review, “Research is not about
reinventing the wheel – it is about getting the wheel to roll better and over new and more
difficult terrain”. (Belisle, Stanley, & Dixon, pg. 476).
One of the most prevalent paradigm shifts in ABA history was the transition from
mentalism to radical behaviorism. Mentalism would be considered the ‘Normal Science’ phase of
the Kuhn cycle, as various anomalies are associated with this ideology. Mentalism is the
assumption that private events directly cause forms of behavior and relies heavily on explanatory
fictions and hypothetical constructs. (Cooper, 2020). This approach led to the emergence of
methodological behaviorism as the previous theory based their science on unobservable
phenomena; this transition falls under the crisis phase of the Kuhn cycle, as the paradigm shift
begins to occur. The revolution phase of the Kuhn cycle encapsulates B.F. Skinners “attempts to
explain all behavior, including private events such as thinking and feeling” (Cooper, pg. 42). The
movement from mentalism to radical behaviorism includes both private and public events in
explaining behavior is considered a paradigm shift, following Kuhn’s model.
I think that the next paradigm shift we will see in the field of ABA will include efforts of
the neurodiversity movement within interventions. The neurodiversity movement advocates for
autistic rights, representing autism as an acceptable form of biology that should be celebrated
and accommodated rather than cured. Within the clinical setting, I think we will see an
emergence of Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention or NDBI’s in behavior
analyst’s framework of treatments. I believe this will place a greater focus on child-initiated
teaching opportunities by transitioning the presentation of targets from DTT to NET. NDBI’s
yield more favorable outcomes when implemented in natural settings with shared control
between the child and RBT, whereas “with traditional DTT found no between-intervention
differences in child outcomes such as social communication and cognitive ability”. (Schuck,
2022).
Sources
Belisle, J., Dixon, M. R., & Stanley, C. R. (2021). Research methods for the practicing behavior
analyst. Emergent Press.
By, McLeod, S., on, U., & 31, J. (2023, July 31). Thomas Kuhn: Paradigm shift. Simply
Psychology. [Link]
Cooper, J. O. (2020). 1. In Applied Behavior Analysis (3rd ed.). essay.
Schuck, R. K., Tagavi, D. M., Baiden, K. M., Dwyer, P., Williams, Z. J., Osuna, A., Ferguson, E.
F., Jimenez Muñoz, M., Poyser, S. K., Johnson, J. F., & Vernon, T. W. (2021).
Neurodiversity and autism intervention: Reconciling perspectives through a naturalistic
developmental behavioral intervention framework. Journal of Autism and Developmental
Disorders, 52(10), 4625–4645. [Link]