The Importance of Data
Therapeutic approaches based on behaviour analysis are distinguished from many other therapies by their reliance on scientific data. If you would like to know about the history and development of the science of behaviour analysis, please read Behaviour Analysis: From Science to Profession.
The approaches used in behaviour analysis have been scientifically researched to ensure they are effective. Further, behaviour analytic practitioners take data on the behaviour of their clients so they can make evidence-based decisions about whether particular approaches are effective for individual clients.
The UK Society for Behaviour Analysis promotes the generation and use of scientific research to guide clinical practice. The Society also aims to arm consumers with current research evidence in behaviour analysis to help them make informed decisions about the approaches that are best suited to them and most likely to achieve positive outcomes.
We are therefore pleased to provide below information and evidence sheets on some key areas of behaviour analysis practice:
Learning and developmental disabilities;
Positive Behaviour Support (PBS);
The UK-SBA is aware of misinformation, particularly online, regarding ABA. We take all feedback on our profession very seriously, but the document enclosed - "Behaviour Analysis, Autism and Learning Disability: Fact and Fiction" - will we hope place such information in context.
Finding Evidence
There are a number of online resources that can provide further access to research articles supporting behaviour analytic strategies across a range of populations, problems and settings.
Google Scholar provides a simple and user-friendly way to search scholarly journals and book chapters for information on behaviour analysis. It searches all web-based resources, but might not provide as comprehensive a list as more scholarly search engines. However, it's a good (and easy) place to do a search. If the full-text of a research is available online, Google Scholar will show an icon for the full text to the right of the search result. PubMed is a website published by the US National Institutes of Health. It comprises more than 29 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher web sites, if these publications are freely available.