Behavior Analysis and Learning: A Biobehavioral Approach 6th Edition (Hardcover)

Behavior Analysis and Learning: A Biobehavioral Approach, Sixth Edition by W. David Pierce and Carl D. Cheney is the Routledge hardcover textbook that presents the principles of behavior analysis from a consistent Skinnerian perspective, from respondent and operant conditioning through applied behavior analysis and cultural design.

What sets this book apart is its biological grounding. Pierce and Cheney use Darwinian selection, neurophysiology and epigenetics to explain why behavior principles work, rather than treating them as a list of procedures. The sixth edition adds updated studies on neurophysiological mechanisms and their relation to the experimental analysis of behavior, and keeps the special sections students rely on: New Directions, Focus On, Note On, On the Applied Side and Advanced Section.

What's included

• Behavior Analysis and Learning: A Biobehavioral Approach, Sixth Edition
• Authors: W. David Pierce and Carl D. Cheney
• Hardcover, published by Routledge
• ISBN-13 9781138898585
• Covers respondent and operant conditioning, schedules of reinforcement, stimulus control, verbal behavior, applied behavior analysis and cultural selection

Who it's for

Undergraduate and graduate students in learning, behavior analysis and ABA courses, BCBA and BCaBA exam candidates who want the conceptual foundations behind the task list, behavioral neuroscience students, and clinicians who were trained procedurally and want to understand the theory.

Why this edition

The sixth edition is the current one and brings the research citations up to date, especially in neuroscience. It is more demanding than an introductory ABA text, which is exactly why graduate programs assign it: it builds the philosophical and experimental base that the BCBA exam’s concepts and principles section tests. The hardcover is durable enough for a book that gets reread during exam prep.

Frequently asked questions

Is this a good textbook for BCBA exam preparation?

It is a strong foundations text for the concepts and principles content. Pair it with a task-list-based study guide for exam-specific practice.

Does it cover applied behavior analysis or only basic research?

Both. It moves from basic respondent and operant principles into applied behavior analysis and cultural design, with applied examples in every chapter.

What background do I need?

An introductory psychology course is enough. The book defines its terms and builds systematically.

Details