The last two weeks, I talked about two different books by Dr. Glenn Latham. This week, continuing on talking about books that have made a positive impact on my life, I’d like to tell you about a book called “How to Think like a Behavior Analyst,” by Dr. Jon Bailey and Mary Burch. This book was written in 2006. It’s mostly a question and answer format, so a series of questions and their answers.
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One of my favorite questions is Question #36: Is Supernanny just a behavior analyst with a British accent? The authors go on to say that the “Supernanny” is missing any explanation of the functions of behavior, so she’s not even close to being a behavior analyst. It’s just really good TV. I would highly recommend this book.
One of the best parts about this book, which I discovered as I was writing a paper for my PhD program, is the preface of this book. In the preface of the book, Bailey and Burch state that the field of Applied Behavior Analysis caught fire in 1993 with the publication of the best-selling “True-Life Story of Catherine Maurice and Her Two Autistic Children.”
They go on to say in the preface, “Lovaas showed with intensive behavioral treatment, up to 50% of autistic children could recover. Ms. Maurice found a behavior analyst therapist, and as we say, the rest is history.” They really attribute the whole field of Applied Behavior Analysis to Catherine Maurice’s book in 1993, and the parent movement that brought the need for Applied Behavior Analysis and some standards.
I would highly recommend this book for both behavior analysts, students and parents because it’s a very easy to read book that might help you in your journey through life; whether it is being a parent working in an organization because the more we think like a behavior analyst, I think the better we’ll do.
Thanks for watching this week and I’ll see you next week where I’ll discuss another book that has made a positive impact on my life.
