Quantitative Behavior Analysis

This book collects the major theories of quantitative analyses and applies them in a useful and meaningful way. Given the widespread use of quantitative analyses of behavior across disciplines, as its focus as a scientific approach to learning theories, this volume will be of great value to students, instructors, and researchers. This volume could also serve as a primary text for undergraduate courses in learning theory, and graduate courses in related disciplines.

One goal of behavioral science is to understand and predict human and animal behavior by studying how organisms interact with their environment. These predictions can be quite general and descriptive, or more precise and quantifiable. Quantitative analysis of behavior involves understanding behavior mathematically, relying on statistical models to study the relationship between behavior and environment. One advantage of this approach is that it allows for the experimental testing of behavioral theories, as well as how such theories generalize to the lives of people. These techniques also enable scientists to examine complex relationships by predicting how humans and animals behave with greater accuracy. Quantitative analyses of behavior are adopted in various disciplines and subfields of behavioral science including psychology, sociology, neuroscience, pharmacology, criminology, ethology, and behavioral medicine.

Quantitative approaches to understanding behavior have been prominent since as early as the 1950s. However, despite considerable advancement in precisely predicting and understanding behavior-environment relationships, different quantitative approaches and theories of behavior have not been collected in a single volume. This has led to researchers, scholars, academics, and even practitioners to struggle with learning about this scientific method, or the conditions under which quantitative models of behavior are useful. Moreover, although the quantitative analysis of behavior is often taught to graduate students in fields of behavioral science, instructors are often faced with relying on individual (often outdated) published articles to provide students, as no definitive text on this approach exists. As methods of quantitative analyses grow, this has become increasingly difficult and challenging for graduate program instructors.

In summary, the core principles of quantitative analysis of behavior are foundational to a broad spectrum of disciplines within behavioral science, and this book fosters interdisciplinary collaboration that shapes and expands each field's capabilities and applications. Moreover, this book aims to better prepare and enable students of behavioral science to explore behavior in increasingly sophisticated ways, addressing complex real-world questions.

Valdeep Saini, PhD is Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Disability Studies at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. His primary research interest is the translation of basic behavioral sciences to areas of societal importance. His work covers a broad spectrum of topics as he works with both humans and animals to better understand the lives of organisms. He serves on the editorial boards of several journals in the fields of behavior analysis and psychology and has published over 60 peer-reviewed papers in more than 10 different behavioral and/or psychology journals. These publications span the scope of clinical behavior therapy, issues of societal importance, the experimental analysis of behavior, and applied animal behavior. He is also a co-editor of the book Behavior Analysis: Translational Perspectives and Clinical Practice. He is a former recipient of the Organizational Behavior Management Network Innovative Research Award and the Ontario Association for Behavior Analysis Outstanding Researcher Award. Outside of his academic role, he enjoys outdoor winter activities, including hockey and snowboarding.