Controlling and predicting human behavior have gained much interest in the field of psychology leading to the discovery of many behavioral alteration strategies. Nonetheless, psychoanalysts do not fully understand human behavior because it is a complicated thing. In this assignment, a book on human behavioral analysis, Behavioral Detectives, is selected based on the stated criteria. What follows is the identification of the purpose of the book and the audience for which the author intended this work. The last part of this assignment involves reviewing the book in the context of, at least, three principles of behavior analysis as written by dissertation writing service
Criteria for Selection
The book Behavioral Detectives, written by Bobby Newman and Dana Reinecke in 2007, presents different cases on behavioral issues concerning developmental disabilities and applied behavior analysis. The scenarios highlighted with the inclusion of mistakes require the readers to identify the error and then turn over to the back pages to see if their responses are correct. This way, readers learn applied behavior analysis as they read on.
One of the book's authors, Bobby Newman, is a certified behavior analyst as well as a licensed psychologist who has contributed a great measure to the niche of behavior analysis and psychology in general. For example, he is the first one who has authored nine books on behavior therapy, the autism spectrum disorders, the philosophy of behaviorism, and utopian literature. He has also published many articles in professional journals and popular magazines. Apart from being a very popular speaker, Newman also conducts direct treatment of patients, provides staff training, and consultations. As a consequence of Newman’s remarkably good work in the past, parents and various professional groups have repeatedly honored him. Moreover, Newman works as the head of Full Inclusion Living and Learning Unitarian Universalist Society (FILL UUS) and as a religious education facilitator at South Nassau Unitarian Universalist Congregation (SNUUC). As indicated by Newman and Reinecke, he also works as a director of Room to Grow and is a co-founder of the CUP Caf?, which is staffed exclusively with workers with developmental disabilities.
The second author of this book, Dana Reinecke, is also a certified behavior analyst and holds a Ph.D. in psychology. She lectures as an Assistant Professor at The Sage Colleges’ Center for Applied Behavior Analysis. According to Newman and Reinecke, as the program director in the said department, she consults for school programs and families as well as is at the helm of the team that presents workshops and research at both national and international conferences.
The Take Home Message
The message the authors have for paraeducators, OTs, PTs, SLPs, and the entire training staff is that the principles of ABA can effectively be studied and applied in addressing the teaching skills and reducing the disorderly behavior. Newman and Reinecke intended Behavioral Detectives for entry-level paraprofessionals, such as BCaBAs and BCBAs, looking to better their problem-solving skills, using case samples. Apparently, the authors purposed this book to be used as a training tool for specialists working with people with autism. The book teaches the concepts in ABA clearly, concisely, and in an engaging manner. Therefore, the book presents its readers with practical scenarios to familiarize them with the real-life practices before they can fully become acquainted with working with their clients.
Furthermore, the book contains numerous examples of real-life situations with, at least, one problem at the end of each topic. The presented problems come from one of the key areas of behavior analytics such as excessive mending, inappropriate touching, and unpredictable aggression, which are discussed in the book. Whenever readers consider a case, it prompts them to think about the causes of the issues addressed therein before they can flip to the back pages in the book to find the suggested approach to the specified situation. The solutions to the problems are concise but comprehensive as they cover all the aspects of the program. The program elements entail case assessment, data collection, training, continual evaluation, and the setting of the event. Accordingly, the authors vividly bring to the readers' attention the possible approaches to a case and suggest the elimination process of less appropriate strategies, demonstrating how experienced expert behavior analysts would handle the issues presented in the said case. Moreover, they show the examples from the most obvious to the most challenging.
Critique
Newman and Reinecke apply different principles of behavior analysis for solving practical problems in society quite successfully. They indicate that behavior largely depends on the environment. For example, the authors observe that 30 to 50% of children who suffer either physical or verbal bullying at school become homosexual or bisexual. In addition, Newman and Reinecke identify the second principle of behavior analysis as that where behavior is negatively or positively reinforced. For instance, ten students reported to bring weapons to school on a regular basis heard that Secret Service had developed a profile of school shootings and shooters and considered defending themselves at least two days before the day the agency stated that the attack would occur. Furthermore, Newman and Reinecke cite an instant that implies they believe that punishment influences behavior. Namely, several states still allow the teachers to use corporal punishment on students as a corrective and restorative action. Lastly, the authors present the principle of extinction. It is the process of withholding or discontinuing the reinforcement to influence behavior. For example, the students who carried weapons on a regular basis in anticipation of an invasion by gangs can just stop the behavior when the school security is beefed up through increased surveillance, frisking, and assurances of safety by the teachers and security officers.
In particular, the authors’ take-home point here is that every situation involves an inimitable behavior caused by a special factor. Therefore, BCaBAs and BCBAs should apply different principles to different scenarios as appropriate. For example, a teacher cannot only punish students who bring weapons to school because they are scared of an impending attack on their institution. There needs to be a clear strategy of how to improve the security, and before a teacher punishes the students, he or she should let them know that the school security is good and that it is illegal to carry weapons at school. However, the book is not easily accessible because the authors have placed the solutions to the cases on the back pages of the book, making mandatory for one to flip back and forth from the front to back pages when reading.
Conclusively, Newman and Reinecke managed to better the problem-solving skills of entry-level paraprofessionals, such as BCaBAs and BCBAs, using case samples throughout the book. Clearly, this book is a training tool for specialists working with people with autism. Its message is sufficiently clear although the authors presuppose that their readers are familiar with behavior analysis, which makes the book unfit for those who are in the process of learning the basics. The book's tone is casual and full of humor, making the work easy to read. Nevertheless, the format makes it difficult to use as one has to flip back and forth between the front and the back pages while reading and confirming responses to cases. Probably, if the authors had placed the solutions immediately after the cases, the book accessibility would have improved. They should have used similar cases to create redundancy and make it easy to analyze the behavior for numerous cases presented.
