The Observational Analysis of Behavior

Dillenburger and Keenan’s use of non-experimental methods represents a significant departure from the scientific orthodoxy of behavior analysis. However, field studies cannot be by-passed if behavior analysis is to provide serious accounts of natural phenomena such as bereavement. Here I explore some theoretical impli-cations of a non-experimental approach to behavior. No one can develop a serious explanation of a natural phenomenon (such as bereavement) without knowing where, when, and how this phenomenon occurs; and knowing where, when, and how a natural phenomenon occurs requires detailed observations in natural settings (e.g., Durham, 1991). Yet Dillenburger and Keenan’s use of non-experimental methods represents a notable exception to the scientific orthodoxy of behavior analysis, which places an unusually strong emphasis on experimentation to the detrimen