The Role of Behavior Analysis in Understanding and Promoting Adaptive Social Behavior
A special issue of Behavioral Sciences (ISSN 2076-328X).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2026 | Viewed by 16
Special Issue Editors
Interests: behavior analysis; conditioned reinforcement; functional behavior assessment; matching law; reinforcer evaluation; sociability; social reinforcement; quantitative data analysis
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Researchers and professionals endeavoring to understand social behavior are cordially invited to contribute to a Special Issue of Behavioral Sciences dedicated to exploring the role of behavior analysis in promoting adaptive social behavior and understanding social behavior–environment functional relations. Social reinforcement is a ubiquitous influence on human behavior and social behavior is fundamental to learning in naturalistic contexts. Therefore, research on these topics has the capacity to facilitate progress in many areas of research and practice.
This Special Issue will showcase innovative research (a) investigating causal influences on the dynamics of social behavior, (b) evaluating important social behaviors and social reinforcers, and (c) facilitating the development of adaptive social skills. We welcome original research spanning the basic-applied continuum within behavior analysis, as well as replication studies, case studies, conceptual articles, and systematic reviews or meta-analyses. Research may be conducted with varied populations (e.g., non-human animal models or clinical populations, children or adults) or in varied settings (e.g., laboratory, hospital, clinic, school, home). Topics of interests include (but are not limited to) the following: fundamental processes contributing to social behavior, the application of quantitative models to describe or predict social behavior, methods of evaluating or establishing social reinforcers, strategies to better understand social behavior or assess social skills, and interventions to promote adaptive social behaviors ranging from fundamental (e.g., approach/avoidance) to complex (e.g., conversation skills).
Dr. Samuel L. Morris
Dr. Faris R. Kronfli
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Behavioral Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- behavior analysis
- conversation skills
- cooperation
- play skills
- prosocial behavior
- sociability
- social avoidance
- social interaction
- social reinforcement
- social skills
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