Behavior Analysis and Selectionist Robotics SIG

By Richard Weissman

The last SIG report for the Behavior Analysis and Selectionist Robotics (BASR) SIG was published in the September 2019 issue of Inside Behavior Analysis by the then (and still) current president, Richard Weissman. In that time, the annual count (i.e., per inter-ABAI convention intervals (post-conference May to pre-conference May) of posts to the BASR Facebook page suggest an extinction process for the SIG’s major influencer:

2019–20 28 posts—24 by Joseph Cautilli, 4 by Richard Weissman
2020–21 57 posts—56 by Joseph Cautilli , 1 by Richard Weissman. – In addition, Joseph posted the news that the page reached 400 subscribers on 7/25/2020.
2021–22 45 posts—44 by Joseph Cautilli, 1 by Richard Weissman
2022–23 57 posts—56 by Joseph Cautilli, 1 by Richard Weissman
2023–24 2 posts both by Joseph Cautilli.

While it appears that Cautilli might have had a mild extinction burst in 2023 (predictable for the dearth of comments and other posters), there’s a larger alternative explanation: positive behavior contrast. On January 1st, 2023, a new group was formed by Joseph Cautilli called The Online Society for Digital Behavior Analysis (TOSFDBA). It’s About Statement of its mission suggests a substantial but broader overlap with the mission of BASR with a greater emphasis on social media and less on robotics: “Digital Behavior Analysis is a subfield of applied behavior analysis and organizational behavior analysis concerned with using behavioral principles within technology. [It is] an online group… [that] exists to help increase interdisciplinary communication and funding for the use of behavior analytic principles and behaviorism as a philosophical approach in digital areas and media. We are interested in both behavioral principles in content and process. This society has a range of concerns, from the use of behavioral principles in developing Ai to the building of behavior analytic apps to the use of behavior analysis in telehealth, to the use of behavior analysis to manage social media to the use of behavioral economic factors in internet purchases to the use of behavioral principles in media like streaming services to train. Hopefully, this society will serve as a bridge between behavior analysts and engineers in creating a better future.” Currently it has 224 members with more posters and comments than can be found in BASR. From January to late May of 2023, there were approximately 720 posts while between then and 4/29/24, there were approximately 212. The dramatic jump up and then down (though still over 4X recent BASR years) was due to much cross posting from the BASR site at the outset of TOSFDBA.

So, after a 5-year hiatus in meeting the SIG requirement for annual reports, a complete lack of meetings at ABAI, online SIG-specific discussions, or group projects (including fund raising), we could disband. Alternatively, we could follow Skinner’s 1st principle of the scientific method: “If you come onto something interesting, drop everything else and study it.” What’s recently became interesting was the newer focus on online culture-cusp design with digital apps. So we have enough interested people and interesting articles to form a group which, through the online and offline responses of its members, can have aggregate behavioral outcomes “consistent with ABAI’s mission: To contribute to the well-being of society by developing, enhancing, and supporting the growth and vitality of the science of behavior analysis through research, education, and practice” (ABAI, 2022, p. 3). Some good next steps for the growth of our SIG would be to collaboratively crowdsource the creation of a file in which references in both the BASR and TOSFDBA Facebook pages are given hyperlink tags comprised of date posted, actor class, target behavior, and goals. Following that, it would be interesting to create a SIG membership form that queries members’ interests, abilities, and contact information. Following that, it would be helpful to create digital Ai tools for continuing this work and assisting in the writing of future SIG reports. Finally, it would be good to have periodic Zoom meetings, organize for meetings and presentations at next year’s ABAI conference, create and fill leadership positions, and consider having Membership dues and bylaws.