With this book the student should be able to instruct himself in that substantial part of psychology which deals with the analysis of behavior--in particular the explicit prediction and control of the behavior of people. The practical importance of such a science scarcely needs to be pointed out, but the understanding and effective use of the science require fairly detailed knowledge. This program is designed to present the basic terms and principles of the science. It is also designed to reveal the inadequacy of popular explanations of behavior and to prepare the student for rapidly expanding extensions into such diverse fields as social behavior and psychopharmacology, space flight and child care, education and psychotherapy. This book is itself one application of the science.
The material was designed for use in a teaching machine. The teaching machine presents each item automatically. The student writes his response on a strip of paper revealed through a window in the machine. He then operates the machine to make his written response inaccessible, though visible, and to uncover the correct response for comparison.
Where machines are not available, a programmed textbook such as this may be used. The correct response to each item appears on the following page, along with the next item in the sequence. Read each item, write your response on a separate sheet of paper, and then turn the page to see whether your answer is correct. If it is incorrect, mark an "x" beside it. Then read and answer the next question, and turn the page again to check your answer.
[From the Preface of The Analysis of Behavior (1961). New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc..]
The Analysis of Behavior: A Program for Self-Instruction (ISBN 07-029565-4) is currently available from: