The beginnings of behavior analysis laboratories in Brazil: a pedagogical view

We introduce the history of behavior analysis in Brazil at the beginning of the 1960s. The behavior analysis laboratory was selected as the focus of this investigation. The time frame of our historical account begins with the visit of Fred Keller to Brazil as a visiting professor at the Universidade de São Paulo. During this period, the first behavior analysis laboratory in Brazil was created, and the first Brazilians were trained in the behavior analysis perspective. We will talk about (a) the zeitgeist of Brazilian higher education, in general, and of psychology, in particular, at the beginning of the 1960s; (b) the background of Keller's arrival in 1961; (c) the reception of the behavior analysis laboratory as a pedagogical tool; and (d) the first steps in the spread of behavior analysis throughout Brazil by means of the work of the didactic behavior analysis laboratory. Our account highlights certain aspects of the beginnings of behavior analysis as a field of scientific study in Brazil. Furthermore, we can observe the importance of the behavior analysis laboratory and its instruments in helping promote this field in Brazil. We especially note that the laboratory was a pedagogical tool in the Brazilian movement to improve Brazil's research community.

Place: US Publisher: Educational Publishing Foundation